In a Mirror, Daedalus
by JC Fabulous
Summary: STE/SGA X-OVER  Repost . What would happen to the Terran Empire if another ship was pulled through the Interphasic Rift created by the Tholians instead of the USS Defiant from the 23rd Century? How would it change the destiny of the Mirror Universe?
1. Chapter 1

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own the rights to Star Trek Enterprise, or to Stargate Atlantis. Star Trek was created by Gene Roddenberry; Star Trek and related marks are trademarks of CBS Studios Inc. Stargate Atlantis was created by Brad Wright and Jonathan Glassner; Stargate Atlantis and related marks are trademarks of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc.

**In a Mirror, Daedalus**

_(STE/SGA X-Over)_

**Chapter One**

The war room on board the Imperial Starfleet Ship Enterprise was a dark and cold place. At least T'Pol had always considered it so, it was where the Terran Starfleet command staff would sit and strategize about the next plans of attacks against other sentient races in this region of the galaxy in their conquest for the Empire. Even though T'Pol had to serve the Empire, it did not mean she did so willingly. At the center of the war room was a large lacquered table at which the Captain would conduct his briefings. On one side of the room was a wall with the Imperial Seal of the Earth and Sword on it, and on the opposite side were the transparent aluminum windows. The stars passed with such speed that they would leave a spectrum trail of light separated into each of the visible frequencies, showing that the ship was still traveling at warp.

Commanders T'Pol and Charles Tucker III at one side of the table while Major Malcom Reed and Lieutenant Hoshi Sato sat on the other. Sgt Travis Mayweather, the Commander's personal guard stood watch at the entrance along with several other MACO's at the back of the room.

"Commander Tucker, how much longer until we have cloaking capability?" asked Captian Maximilian Forrest

"Another couple of hours, sooner maybe if I had some help." Said Commander Tucker, the horrible scar on the side of face, evidence of the many years spent exposed to the Delta radiation of a warp reactor.

"Very well, T'Pol after the meeting I want you to assist Tucker with the cloaking device. The sooner we can get it operational the better." Said Forrest

"Yes sir." T'Pol replied.

"Well, now that we're all here can we get this briefing started so we know what's going on." Said Hoshi

"If you insist Lieutenant." Commander Jonathan Archer glared, and then pressed a button on the front viewing screen. He was still feeling the residual effects of Doctor Phlox's new pain inducing agony chamber, but was able to push through it. Instantly a spatial graph appeared with grid lines that warped into a big, black sphere in the center of the image. "What you are looking at here is the gateway to a parallel universe."

"A what?" said Reed

"You heard me Major, a parallel universe." Said Archer

"That's not possible; the science directorate has examined the theories on parallel universes and has found no evidence to support their existence." Stated T'Pol in a very condescending, yet Vulcan-like manner.

"Well fortunately the Tholians are a little more open minded than your people." Snapped Archer. "The theory states that for everything that CAN happen, DOES happen in an alternate reality. I believe it and unlike the Vulcans, the Tholians believed it as well. They detonated a high yield tri-cobalt device here," he said while pointing to the center of the image of the viewing screen. "In the center of the gravity well of a dead star, and it opened an inter-phasic rift between realities. Like a doorway between our universe and another."

"So you're saying that there's another Terran Empire out there somewhere? Another Starfleet?" asked Hoshi

"So what, how does this help us?" said Tucker

"Where did you get all of this information sir?" asked Reed

"The Tholians use humanoid slaves as outside laborers. Some of them can be bought for right price." He answered

"Well I hope you didn't pay too much for it." Said Tucker

"And why is that commander?" said Archer in an icy cold voice.

"With all due respect sir, you have to admit, it does sound a bit out there." Tucker defended himself.

"Really? I see… So no one believes me is that it?" he asked the entire command staff.

"Well sir…" Reed started to chime in but was suddenly cut off by Commander Archer.

"Computer show next sensor image." The light on the viewing screen flashed and now showed a blurry picture of what seemed to be a moon or asteroid, and something else behind it.

"You can barely see anything." Said Tucker

"Computer, enhance grid 3-Alpha." Archer ordered the computer and it replied by enlarging and digitally enhancing the image quality of that grid section. Revealing the image of a ship not much larger than the Enterprise, it had a long neck-like construction with a 'head' at the front of the ship. A shining silvery-grey exterior hull, two nacelles or pods on either side, and had what appeared to be some sort of control tower on top.

"What the hell is that thing?" Said Hoshi

"It looks like a variant of a Klingon Battlecruiser." Said Reed

"It looks antiquated, look how blocky and modular it is." Said Tucker, followed by a chuckle from Hoshi. "No grace or style to it at all huh?"

"With a face like yours, you should be the one talk." Reed mocked.

"I'll kill you reed!" Tucker shouted and jumped out of his chair, preparing to pounce on Reed like a tiger ready to kill its prey.

"Quiet! All of you!" Commanded Captain Forrest, "Both of you, shut up and sit down! We have a briefing to finish, or do the two of you want to take turns in Phlox's new toy?"

Slowly, the two glaring combatants descended into their chairs before eventually turning their attention back to the executive officer of the Enterprise and his tale about other dimensions.

"How the hell were the Tholians able to capture something like that in the first place?" asked Reed

"Well Major, now that I have your full attention again, the rift was unstable. It was too dangerous to try to send one of their own ships through, so they formulated a plan to transmit a distress signal into the opening, hoping to lure a ship through from the other side." Said Archer

"So the Tholians lured that ship into the rift, and they took it by surprise when it came out the other side?" said Hoshi

"Yes, and no. The Tholians had not yet transmitted the signal before something emerged from the rift. Apparently the ship was caught in the gravitational wake of the rift and was pulled through on its own. But that's not all. The Tholians were able to quantum-date a piece of the outer hull, and they were able to send a probe through that sent signals back through the rift before it collapsed. Not only is it from another universe, but it is from another galaxy and another time as well." Archer explained and tapped a button on the viewing panel, and another graph appeared. "From the data the probe sent back, it indicated that the ship actually came from the Pegasus Galaxy, millions of lights years away. Think about the technology on board that ship, new tactical systems, sensors, bio-weapons, new forms of propulsion which can travel at speeds we can only dream of!"

"This is ludicris Captain, someone has fabricated this evidence to lure us here. Commander Archer is guilty of assault and mutiny." Commander T'Pol stated with cold logic.

"That's enough commander." Said Forrest

"Sir I…" T'Pol began to object.

"I said shut up Commander we're investing this." Forrest stated flatly. "What of the time?" Asked Captain Forrest

"Excuse me sir?" Responded Archer

"You stated that the Tholians indicated that this ship is from another period of time as well Commander, or did I hear you incorrectly?" Forrest sneared, he hated Archer with all his heart and soul. Betrayal is something that was considered unforgivable in his eyes, however his revenge against Archer for attempting to take over HIS ship would be the sweetest feeling he will ever have.

"Yes sir," Archer replied with disdain. "According to the Tholians, the ship is about 150 years out of our current timeline…" That much was true enough.

"… From the future…" That however was a lie. The Tholians actually revealed the ship to be from approximately 150 years in the past, however that did not matter. He had to have this ship and the technology that it contained. He knew that if stated that it was from the past, the mission to retrieve the ship would be in great jeopardy.

"That does sound awfully intriguing. Wouldn't you say commander?" Reed said, who aimed his statement at T'Pol who had remained quiet throughout almost all of the briefing.

"Yes, indeed. However we must proceed with caution. This ship could be nothing more than an elaborate hoax designed to bait the Enterprise into Tholian hands." Stated T'Pol

"This is no hoax. There is too much to suggest otherwise. We cannot allow the Tholians to learn the secrets of that ship and use it in junction with the rebels against the Empire. The stake is too high not to take that risk. We MUST at all costs capture that alien vessel and deliver it to the Empire!" said Archer

"I agree. If this ship is for real, as the Commander says it is, then we must take it for the Empire." Said Hoshi gleefully.

"I also agree." Said Reed

"Me too, the technology on board that thing could be well worth the risk." Tucker said as he thought about all the new marvels that might lay in wait on board the strange new vessel..

"With the technology on board that ship, this rebellion could be over in less than a week." Stated Archer, triumphantly. "Well T'Pol, what about you? Do you agree, or not?"

"It seems that I am out voted in this decision. Very well, I will agree, however I must still insist that we proceed with this mission with great caution. It could still be a trap." Said T'Pol

"Very well, then it is settled. We will proceed with Commander Archer's plan to take that ship, but as T'Pol has stated, we will do so with caution. If this mission becomes too dangerous, then we will fall back and retreat towards Imperial space." Said Forrest. Archer looked as if wounded by the Captain's statement to abandon the mission if it became 'too dangerous' and was about to say something in protest, but decided to hold his tongue instead.

"Is there something wrong Commander?" asked Forrest

"No sir…" Archer forced through his clenched lips. How dare Forrest even suggest the thought of leaving if things got too heavy, it was a sign of cowardice, and cowardice has no place in the Terran Empire. He would not allow Forrest to jeopardize his plans for greatness. He will capture that ship and defeat the rebels himself if it would be that last thing he does

"Good," Forrest smiled. "Everyone dismissed.

* * *

><p>"Biggs! Get the Commander a radiation meter!" shouted Tucker as the female Vulcan entered Main Engineering.<p>

T'Pol took the radiation meter and attached it to her uniform as Biggs handed it to her, and continued with her work in assisting Commander Tucker install the Suliban cloaking device to Enterprise's main system.

"The Captain is going to want a status report." She said

"Just give a few minutes to calibrate the field converters…" Tucker said and began to walk away, but suddenly turned in rage. "I spent four hours in the booth because of you!"

"Perhaps you should direct your anger at Commander Archer, not me." She said plainly.

"You were the one who disabled the alarms in that junction and made it look like I did it!" He spat out.

"You are mistaken." Said T'Pol

"The hell I am, I think I would remember if I sabotaged the ship." He defended himself.

"Not necessarily." T'Pol said in sarcastic, yet still Vulcan, tone.

The color suddenly flushed from his face at the remark, and fear began to creep down his spine. "What did you do to me?" He asked.

"I lured you away from engineering with the promise of a sexual encounter, and once we were alone in my quarters I implanted a telepathic suggestion. I compelled you to sabotage the power grid. After you completed the assignment, we melded again and I altered your memory of what had happened. It was my duty to help Captain Forrest to regain command." T'Pol explained

"You're going to regret what you did to me." He threatened

"Threats are illogical."

Slamming his hand into the wall next to her, he pressed the comm button and signaled the bridge. "Engineering to bridge, we're ready!"

* * *

><p>The Vintaak System, still under cloak, the ISS Enterprise exited out of warp and continued to cruise under impulse power closer to their target location. A drydock of Tholian construction, built into an asteroid-moon in orbit around a gas giant. It didn't take them long to find it…<p>

"We've reached the coordinates, auto-navigation has disengaged." Said T'Pol

"Well, let's see where we are." Forrest said as Hoshi punched in the commands to bring up an image on the view screen of the system they had just entered. A blue-green gas giant with a single ring and multiple moons filled the display.

"Magnify the moon on the far right." Archer ordered.

Hoshi complied and punched the commands on her console, and there it was. The Tholian drydock, carved out of an asteroid and buzzing with activity, dozens of Tholian fighters and support crafts flew in and out of the superstructure of the drydock, and within the center of the drydock, was the alien ship, sleek and glimmering underneath the spot lights.

* * *

><p>"The vessel is 225 meters in length, 95 meters in width, and 75 meters in height. The primary systems are offline, except for life support. Scans indicate thirteen separate life signs onboard the vessel, all alien. One of them appears to be reptilian. They appear to be located in this area." T'Pol stated, pointing to an area near the center of the main body of the ship.<p>

"Take a look at the size of those power distribution systems, that ship must pack one hell of a punch." Said Tucker. "But I don't see any warp coils, how the hell does that thing achieve warp drive without them?"

"We'll have to see when we get over there, it's possible that it has a completely different form of interstellar propulsion." Said Archer.

"Look at the weapons platforms, there appears to be about sixteen vertical torpedo launch tubes along the neck, and looks to be approximately thirty-two, point-defense cannon turrets of some kind located on strategic points all over the ship. Two flight pods on either side for a small attack wing, maybe. It also looks like it has four main offensive weapons on it as well…" Major Reed said with a distinct excitement in his voice. "She's a predator…" He smiled.

"Calm down major, none of that is going to matter if we don't go over there and get what we came for. Commander Archer, I want you to go over there with an assault team." Said Captain Forrest.

"Me?" Said Archer.

"This is your party so you might as well have a piece of the cake as well." Said Archer

"Yes sir." Archer smiled.

"Download everything you can from the database, and when you're done I want you to destroy that ship." Said Forrest.

"What? Destroy it? You can't do that! We need to take this ship back to the Empire and use it to crush the rebels!" Archer exclaimed in dismay.

"We are deep in Tholian territory Commander! We can't take the risk, now you have your orders! Dismissed!" Forrest retaliated.

Archer stormed off the bridge, followed by Commander Tucker and Major Reed.

"I want you to go with them." Forrest said quietly to T'Pol. "I don't want Archer to return from this mission. Do I make myself clear Commander?"

T'Pol nodded in confirmation of her Captain's orders and turned to join Archer and his assault team.

* * *

><p>Bright, sparkling blue lights shimmered as the assault team beamed aboard from the Enterprise onto the alien vessel. Gravity was equivalent to Earth's as they observed their surroundings and started to make their way forward towards, what the scans indicated was, the bridge. The lights on the helmets of their EVA suits illuminated the corridor. It was strange however, the construction and design of the interior seemed oddly similar to Imperial Starfleet designs. As they made their way further into the darkness, something out of the ordinary caught Archer's eye. It was something that shouldn't have been there. On the wall was a name plaque, however this name plate was written in English, which indicated that they had finally reached the bridge.<p>

"That's not possible; the information given to me said that this ship was from another galaxy as well from another universe. How can this ship have anything on it in English?" Said Archer.

"You mean this ship is of human construction?" Said Sato.

"It would appear so." T'Pol stated in cold Vulcan logic, not at all interested by the surprising revelations.

"Well, it is from another universe, maybe in that universe humans have expanded the Empire to encompass the whole of the Milky Way galaxy and others as well." Reed stated, his excitement was growing even more at the thought of a Galactic Terran Empire, let alone an Intergalactic Empire. "Sir look."

Archer looked in the direction at which Reed was pointing. On the wall next to the main entrance to the bridge was a big, golden plaque. It read 'USS Daedalus. Fast Attack Wing.' With an engraved picture of the ship in the center of the plaque as the words flowed around it.

"I'll be damned, it is a human ship after all." Archer smiled. "Let's see what we have here."

Meanwhile, back on the Enterprise, the Tholian prisoner began to signal the rest of its people from its cell. Resonating at high frequencies it transmitted a warning, signifying that the Humans are here.

"Nap time isn't over yet." Dr. Phlox growled as he began to alter the temperature within the decon chamber, cracking the exoskeleton of the Tholian.

"Bridge to Phlox!" Came Captain Forrest's voice over the intercom. "What's going on down there?"

"The sedative is no longer working." Phlox stated.

"Well then kill it now!" The Captain ordered.

"With pleasure." Phlox said with glee as he dropped the temperature even further, and faster than the Tholian could survive, and soon after, exploded from the great extremes. "Phlox to bridge, you won't any more trouble from our guest."

On the bridge however, Ensign Hoshi Sato saw on her scans that the Tholians had apparently received the message that was transmitted from their former Tholian prisoner. "Sir, three Tholian ships are closing in on our position, and one of the ships is attempting to hail us."

"Damn…" Forrest cursed.

Back on the Daedalus, Archer and his team quickly scanned over the bridge. Working efficiently and diligently, he was somewhat saddened that he would have to scuttle this ship. Especially now it was discovered that it was a human vessel, however, orders were orders. However much he disagreed with them, he had no recourse in challenging them. Not this time.

"T'Pol, how is the download going?" He asked

"Nearly complete." She replied.

"Good." Said Archer

"We can overload the main reactor from here." Said Tucker from one of the control console near the rear of the bridge.

"Get started." He ordered

As Archer and his assault team were making headway in their mission, the Enterprise found itself in dire straits. Four more ships made their way to the other three and located themselves in strategic positions around an apparently empty part of space. However, they knew that something was there. They had received a transmission from one of their comrades that this secret facility had been compromised and that a ship was already here. Unfortunately, the transmission was abruptly cut off. More than likely, one of their own had been killed. So they surrounded the last know area of where the signal came from and began to spin their 'web.' Even though they couldn't see the enemy, they knew that they were there, probably under cloak. Firing out glowing, orange beams of energy to each ship, the geometrical 'web' was quickly completed. Solid and absolute, the 'web' began to slowly shrink in size. The goal was to squeeze their enemy and force them to show themselves, one way or another.

Forrest looked on the view screen at the scene unfolding before his eyes, horror gripping his soul. "Target the nearest ship and fire torpedoes!"

Three radiant globes of orange light shot forth from the Enterprise's launch tubes, but instead of impacting the hull of a Tholian ship, it collided with the wall of the Tholian's web. The energy reflux of the explosion caused the cloaking device to temporarily fail, giving away the exact location of the Enterprise with the web. It was only for a fraction of a second that they became visible, but that was long enough for the Tholians to begin bombarding the Enterprise with energy blasts.

"They can see us!" Sato exclaimed as the ship rocked under the shower of Tholian weapons fire.

"Engineering, disengage the cloak and transfer all power to engines! Get us out of here!" Forrest said as he contacted main engineering.

"We can't sir, the cloak won't respond!" Stated a frantic voice as the Enterprise rocked once again under the constant Tholian attack.

Back on the Daedalus, Archer was becoming impatient as Tucker attempted to bring primary power functions back online though out the ship. The console layout was not too difficult, especially considering the similar human design, but the command sequence was giving him a little more trouble than expected.

"How much longer?" Archer Asked.

"Maybe you would like to take a stab at it!" Tucker snapped. Tapping away at the controls, only a few seconds later the lights turned on and the monitors flickered to life. T'Pol hurried over to, what she assumed was, the science station on the port side of the bridge. Being that there was no chair at this station, she stood while she began to punch in commands into the control console and the monitor instantly showed the Enterprise, enveloped in an orange energy web while under attack by the Tholians.

"Sir!" T'Pol shouted. Archer and the others watched the monitor and became incensed with rage.

"Damn Tholians!" Growled Reed.

"Tactical stations!" Archer barked as Reed and Mayweather obeyed his command and ran to the two seats in front of the Captain's chair. Navigation and communications, and tactical.

Archer peered out of the main observation window, but couldn't see anything except for the Tholian drydock that the ship was currently held in. "I need the engines and weapons online!" He shouted

"Yes sir, I'll see what I can do!" replied Tucker.

T'Pol continued to punch in commands on the console as a status readout of the assault on the Enterprise popped up on the monitor detailing the extent of the damage. "Enterprise is taking heavy damage, shields and hull plating are offline, and a reactor breach is imminent." She relayed to everyone who was listening.

As the attack continued, Captain Forrest ordered the crew to abandon ship. The Tholians fired blast after blast of energy on the now completely defenseless Enterprise. With shields and hull plating down, it was only a matter of time before the Terran ship would be destroyed. Escape pods launched in a desperate attempt for survival. Captain Maximilian Forest however, remained behind with his ship. A Captain never leaves his ship behind, no matter how desperate the situation, it was a matter of honor and duty. To die as his ship went down in the midst of battle on behalf of the Terran Empire was looked upon as a glorious death, and he would be remembered with admiration and respect, after his death, in the history books. Fire exploded around him as the hull buckled and opened up to space, power conduit surged and over loaded, the air was filled smoke and the ship trembled violently as it finally succumbed to its demise at the hands of its enemies.

"Commander." T'Pol said in a hushed tone as she stared at the monitor.

Archer and the rest turned to see the display image of the Enterprise, scorched and beaten, explode in a bellowing ball of orange fire, the light from the explosion reflecting off the thick glass of the observation window from beyond the entrance of the drydock. Feeling of dismay, shock, and anger flooded the bridge of the Daedalus as the pride of Starfleet, the flagship of the Terran Empire, the ISS Enterprise was now gone.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> I am currently reposting this story. I am finally able to get back to it after almost 2 years. I know it seems like a long time, but sometimes stuff happens in life that can take you away from doing other things that you would like to do. Right now, I am going over the previous chapters and correcting any of the spelling and grammar errors. In addition, because it'll help me get back in the mode of writing the characters and remembering the plotline that I had in mind. Along with that, I'm also changing a little of the dialog here and there, revealing a little history behind the Empire and to try to make it flow a little more smoothly.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

The bridge on board the Daedalus was alive and buzzing with activity, with the destruction of the Enterprise Archer and his assault team was now stuck on the human vessel from another universe. This ship was now their only chance of survival.

"Commander!" Archer shouted.

Commander Tucker was working hastily at his station, "You've got maneuvering thrusters."

"T'Pol unlock the docking clamps!" Archer ordered.

Punching in commands into the console without success and turned suddenly. "I can't."

"What about the weapons?" he asked.

"Sorry sir, but the controls are not responding." Said Reed

Archer immediately turned his attention to Tucker, "It's going to take some time."

"Sir the shields are functional." Stated Reed

"Raise them." Archer ordered as he took his place in the Captain's chair.

Reed obeyed his commands and did so. The power of the Asgard shielding on board the Daedalus was staggering. The energy field surrounded the ship in a bubble of brilliant blue light and sheared the Tholian docking clamps from the ship.

"We're free." Mayweather shouted.

"Sergeant, take us out of here." Said Archer

"Aye sir firing the aft thrusters." Said Mayweather and they began to move forward.

"Six Tholian ships are closing in." said T'Pol from her station.

"How much longer until weapons are online?" said Archer

"I still need to bypass the power regulators, it'll be a few minutes." Tucker said as he kept working frantically to get the ship's weapons systems operational.

"Sir!" Shouted Mayweather as the Tholian ships could be seen through the observation window spinning their energy web in front of the entrance of the carved out asteroid drydock in order to prevent their escape.

"Mr. Tucker, we need those weapons now!" Shouted Archer

"Stand by." Tucker replied. "I could use some help over here." He said and T'Pol came running to his side. "When I give you the word, I want you to relay the power to the forward energy emitters."

Suddenly the ship's forward momentum came to a halt and the bridge shook.

"What was that?" Asked Archer

"They've locked onto us with a tractor beam. They're trying to pull us back into the dock." Reed replied

"It's now or never Tucker!" Archer said, the level of anger in his voice rising.

"Hold on… Now!" Tucker shouted. T'Pol did as she was told and power began to flow.

"Tactical systems are back online." She said simply.

"Major, take them out!" Archer ordered.

"With pleasure sir." Reed smiled and activated, what he presumed to be, the point-defense systems.

The Daedalus's railguns locked onto their target and tracer rounds, fired at lightning speed, flew through space and annihilated the Tholian's tractor beam array in a dazzling explosion. With the ship now free of the tractor beam, it began to move forward once again. Targeting the Tholian ships, luminous blue beams of high-intensity super-heated plasma energy shot forth from the Daedalus and struck its target, destroying four of the six Tholian ships instantly while the other two retreated at high speed. The smiles on the faces of the crew were almost speechless, all except for T'Pol of course, who never smiled.

"Full thrusters." Archer said, basking in this small, but significant, glory.

Suddenly, a faint thumping sound reverberated througout the bridge as T'Pol's station relayed the information of what was happening. "The station has opened fire on us."

"Amazing, and we couldn't even feel it. Does this ship have aft torpedoes?" Smiled Archer

"Unfortunately sir, no it doesn't. But it does have vertical missile launchers… And they're armed." Said Tucker.

"Major Reed, target the station and fire." Archer said triumphantly.

"Yes sir." Reed grinned and tapped the commands.

Immediately, one of the Daedalus's Naquadah enhanced missiles launched from their Vertical Launch System, or VLS, missile tubes and struck down the Tholian station in a blaze of thermonuclear fire. Rubble and debris spread out in all directions from where the station had once existed.

"Sir, sensors are picking up escape pods twenty-one kilometers off the port bow… They're ours." Said Reed.

"Pick them up." Archer said and reclined comfortably in his new chair, however he was weary of whether or not Forrest had survived the destruction of the Enterprise. If he did, then there would be a big problem... A problem he could not afford to have.

* * *

><p>Traveling at full sublight speed, the Daedalus was a ship out of place in this universe, and was now under the control of a human who was bound-and-determined to use it for the betterment of an interstellar empire bent on conquest and domination. Within the briefing room of the Daedalus, and still clothed their underlining EVA suits, Archer and his command staff were currently working on how to get the ship working at peak operational efficiency.<p>

"We need warp drive Mr. Tucker." Archer stated irately.

"Sir this ship doesn't have warp drive, and they stripped almost all of the control crystals that manages the ships systems. Fortunately, however, they were all boxed up in crates and still sitting in one of the hanger bays. But it's going to be a while before I can figure out how to put them back where they belong." Tucker said honestly.

"And how does that fix our warp drive problem?" Archer asked

"Sir, from what I've been able to tell from the ship's database, it doesn't use warp drive at all. In fact from what I've been able to make out, it uses an engine design, called a Hyperdrive, to initiate a form of Faster-Than-Light travel through hyperspace." Said Tucker

"Hyperspace?" Said Archer

"Yes sir, the hyperdrive allows the ship to open a sort of window into a realm of space-time that exists beneath, not only our own space-time but beneath subspace also, called hyperspace and literally dives into it. Achieving a level of speed that far surpasses anything we could've conceived possible." Tucker stated almost excitedly, the way only an engineer could.

"Then why don't you fix it?" Archer glared at him, annoyed at the fact that his new ship was only traveling at sublight speeds.

"Sir, I need time to figure out how to put everything back together." Said Tucker

"How much time?" Asked T'Pol

"I don't know. The FTL technology on board this ship is way beyond anything I've ever seen before." Said Archer

"If we don't have FTL capability in twelve hours, I'm going to find myself a new chief engineer." He threatened.

"I suggest we make use of the alien workers we've captured, they may be more familiar about the ships systems." Said T'Pol

"Very well…" Archer stated. "Keep then under close surveillance. Once the 'hyperdrive' is restored, we'll set a course to rendezvous with the assault fleet." Said Archer

"Sir, we are in no condition for battle." T'Pol replied, stating the obvious.

"We made quick work of the Tholians." Reed was quick to point out.

"This ship was designed to be operated by a crew of nearly two-hundred; we only have forty-seven on board. The most logical course of action is to take the Daedalus back to Earth and allow Starfleet to study it and reverse engineer its systems." T'Pol said

"There's no time!" Archer shouted, "The Empire could possibly lose this was in a matter of months, maybe even weeks if we don't get the Daedalus and its weapons to the front lines and crush the rebels under our feet right now! Dismissed!" Archer commanded.

As the rest of the command staff began walking out of the briefing room, Archer grabbed T'Pol by her arm and held her from leaving. "Not you…" He whispered in her ear.

As the doors slid shut only Archer, T'Pol and Mayweather remained in the room. Throwing her into a chair Archer causally walked up to Mayweather and relieved him of his plasma rifle.

"I should kill you for betraying me." He said as he forced the barrel of the rifle underneath T'Pol's chin.

"The orders from Starfleet for you to take command of Enterprise were obviously fabricated; it was my duty as a Starfleet officer to help Captain Forrest regain control of the ship." T'Pol stated quickly, her life in clear jeopardy; she tried hard to keep her emotions under control. However it was something that had become more and more difficult during recent years.

"You pledged your loyalty to me!" He growled.

T'Pol considered telling Archer of her orders from Forrest to kill him, but decided against it. Forrest was dead and those orders no longer applied. "You are my commanding officer now, and it is now my duty to serve you as it was once to Captain Forrest. You have my loyalty." She said with a slight tremor in her voice.

He grabbed her from the chair and hoisted her up, with the barrel still under her chin, forcing her to look up into his eyes. "You know I've had a problem with your people before… Not until they became involved with this rebellion. If I had another officer capable of doing your job I'd throw you out the nearest airlock… I need you to help get this ship up and running, but I swear if I even hear a rumor that you're working behind my back again…"

"Understood!" T'Pol exclaimed, her fear getting the best of her.

"Get out!" He said

T'Pol ran for the door and exited as fast as she could, running down the hall a short before finally stopping. Her heart was pounding, and her body was visibly shaking. She tried hard to hold back the tears from behind her eyes, and to force the lump that was forming in her throat back down to where it came. The walls blocking her emotions were starting to crumble, and she was hoping that she would live to see another day.

* * *

><p>In the main engineering room, Tucker's engineering staff, or what remained of it, did an excellent job of restoring most of the ships systems, with the help of the slaves they now had onboard. Everything on board this ship was so far in advance of where the Empire currently stood that it marveled him.<p>

The main hyperdrive of the Daedalus was capable of traversing a distance of 8.68 light years in exactly one second of travel time. It would take the Enterprise many hours to travel that amount of distance at warp five. In fact, according to the ship's database, the hyperdrive system installed onboard was labeled as an 'Intergalactic' hyperdrive, that is capable of traversing the void between galaxies in less than four days at peak operational efficiency. He couldn't believe it, the thought of traveling at that speed was absolutely mind boggling. With this new hyperdrive, warp drive would be a thing of the past. It was like comparing a bicycle to the very first warp engine developed by Zephram Cochrane.

Maybe the most significant technology of all was the main power plant, the Subspace Capacitor. According to the ship's records, the subspace capacitor had replaced yet another piece of amazing technology called a Naquadah Generator; the capacitor was actually capable of siphoning energy directly from subspace itself. The more power the ship required the more energy it would draw, and any excess that wasn't used would be stored in the capacitor like a battery until needed. With a limitless source of energy and power at their fingertips, and powering a fleet of ships like the Daedalus, the Empire would spread across the galaxy like wildfire and conquer anything that would stand in its way. The only problem was that it was a prototype, and had a design flaw. As it currently stood, there was no way to regulate the amount of energy being siphoned, it was either on or off, and no in-between. He would have to come up with a new design that would monitor and regulate the energy flow, but as it stood now, he would have to do it manually, shutting down the Capacitor once it reached maximum levels so there would be no chance of overload, and turning it on again if they needed to draw more power. It wouldn't be too terribly difficult, just annoying.

He was also able to access the historical database from the Daedalus's main computer, and learned that the ship was not from the future as Archer had stated back on board the Enterprise, but from the past. The last entry was date stamped the 1st of August, 2008. Nearly 150 years in the past…

"Preparations are almost complete, we've beamed down the last of our supplies and any equipment we thought might be useful. I'll be taking the last F-302's down myself. Of course, we haven't had the time to do a proper survey of the planet's surface, but it seems habitable enough. It has plenty of fresh water, arable soil, not that different from our own. I realize the chance of recue is slim but it's become obvious that we no longer have a choice. This is Colonel Sobel, commander of the Daedalus, signing off." And the entry ended.

Amazing to think that in another universe a century and a half ago in the past, that humans were capable of constructing such a ship. However, it also made him wonder, if the Commander lied about when exactly the ship came from, what else he could be lying about…

None of that was important at the moment, right now he needed to get the ship's hyperdrive back online because he knew that Archer would keep his word in finding a new chief engineer if he had too, and that meant death for the previous engineer… Namely him…

Just then, he received a communication from one of his staff workers, "What is it?"

"Sir, we have a problem on deck six." Said the voice over the comm line.

"Damn it, hold on I'll be right there." Tucker said, agitated in the lack of progress to get the ship operational and ready go.

Making his way to deck six, he finally found one of his engineering staff that was half way in a power junction access corridor. "What's the problem?"

"Commander!" The junior engineer jumped at the sound of his superior's voice. "Someone has taken the control crystals out of this control interface."

"Why are you bothering me with this, they're probably still on the hanger deck!" said Tucker

"No sir they were here ten minutes ago and when I…" The junior engineer tried to explain but was immediately cutoff by his superior.

"Well you better find then, because if we don't get this ship's hyperdrive online in the next ten minutes, I'm going to tell Archer that you're the reason that we're still crawling at sublight!" He shouted

"Yes sir!" The junior engineer obeyed, knowing that it was most likely that he would be thrown out of an airlock in the next ten minutes rather that getting the ship to fly faster than light.

Just then, as Commander Tucker was walking away, he heard a strange rustling sound coming from further down the access corridor. Going into fight mode, he pulled his phase pistol out from its holster and slowly, cautiously made his way down the corridor. Around twenty meters down the corridor, he found what was stolen from him ten minutes ago, the control crystals. They were just lying there in a nice little pile, as if someone had purposely placed them there to be found. Suddenly a stabbing pain shot through his upper back as something very large and powerful grabbed him, and pulled him through an adjacent corridor. His screams were never heard by anyone, except for his murderer.

* * *

><p>Major Reed was sitting at his, newly appointed, tactical station onboard the Daedalus. Over the last several hours, he had learned much about the weapons and defensive systems on this new ship, and instantly fell in love with it. The designs were solid, practical and most of all, deadly; even if a few of the systems were at first glance out-dated, but after a closer inspection, they were just as lethal as anything the Empire currently employees.<p>

The point-defense system utilizes an electromagnetic railgun system, which was at first a disappointing discovery. However, a later look had shown just how efficient this obsolete, yet deadly, design really was. A standard magazine carries ten thousand rounds, capable of delivering shots at a velocity of 1701.45 meters per second, at an effective distance of over 402 kilometers. The projectiles themselves were composed of two elements that he had never heard of before. The main body of the round was made of a mineral called Trinium which, according to the ship's technical specifications, is apparently equal in strength and durability as the Duranium-Tritanium composite alloy used in the hull construction of their ships, while the tip of each round contain an explosive mineral called Naquadah.

This Naquadah element, is apparently a super heavy mineral, and has superconductor capabilities. It can store massive amounts of energy and is extremely hard, and at the velocities the projectiles are traveling at, the amount of energy released upon impact with an enemy vessel's shield, along with the kinetic impact, would be nearly equal to that of a Pulsed-Phase Cannon, not too bad for an old-fashioned projectile weapons system.

The VLS Missile launch tubes along the neck of the ship each contain a single missile, each of which were designated as a Mark VIII tactical nuclear missile. The delivery system of these missiles weren't very impressive. Not very dissimilar from the old spatial torpedoes that the Empire used to employ, however the missiles themselves were enhanced with the same super heavy element called Naquadah. It was this element that makes each missile so destructive, capable of delivering a payload with a destructive yield of over 100 megatons. No wonder why the Tholian station was annihilated so quickly.

The shields onboard were more impressive. Unlike most shield designs, which tend to deflect and dissipate an energy weapon's fire, this design actually absorbs and diffuses that energy instead. It was far more superior and more capable of surviving a firefight than what Starfleet ships are currently able to do. In addition, the exact strength of the shields appears to be relative to the amount of power supplied to them, the more power you put in, the more energy it will resist, and the more punishment it'll endure. It was an absolutely outstanding shield design.

The four main energy weapons were the most remarkable, as far as he was concerned. Instead of firing pulses of energy like most energy weapons, from all of the known species, these energy weapons release a narrow, high-intensity beam of super-heated plasma. Based on the power levels readings that Reed had been studying, just one of these beams is capable of overloading and penetrating even the most advanced shields currently known to exist. Capable of burning through the hulls and internal structures of an enemy vessel with comparative ease, causing heavy damage to the target; if the beam hits a critical area, ships can be destroyed with only one or two shots at most.

"Beautiful…" Reed said to himself.

"What was that major?" asked Archer, who was sitting in his new command chair. Himself, studying the data records from the Daedalus.

"Oh nothing, sir… I was merely commenting to myself about the tactical systems." Reed stated, somewhat embarrassingly.

"Well, try not to drool all over the controls. We want to keep our new ship as sanitary as possible." Archer grinned.

"Yes sir." Said Reed.

Just then, Sgt Mayweather along with two other MACO's entered the bridge with their pulse rifles at the ready.

"Sergeant, were you able to find anything?" asked Archer.

"No sir, it looks like this ship has been completely cleaned out of anything useful. The supply rooms we investigated were completely empty of any food rations, water, clothing, weapons, or any medical equipment. The only provisions that we have onboard are the emergency rations and first aid kits that were in the escape pods when we rescued the crew of the Enterprise, sir. The slaves we've captured were useless when we interrogated them about what they did with all of the supplies. They kept insisting that the ship was already empty." Mayweather sounded irritated, he and the other members of the assault team had been stuck in their underlining EVA suits for hours and he desperately wanted to get of them and a real uniform.

"I see, go check the crew quarters and see what you can find; hopefully there is something that can be found." Archer said, he too was getting annoyed at having to where his EVA suit.

"Yes sir." Said Mayweather and exited the bridge with his men.

"Dr. Phlox to Commander Archer." Came a voice over the intercom.

"What is it doctor?" he asked

"Sir, could you come down here to the medical bay, there is something I think you should see." Said Phlox.

"Can it wait?" he said

"I believe you will find this discovery most interesting sir, you should see it for yourself." Said Phlox

"Very well, I'll be on my way." Said Archer.

* * *

><p>"Where did you find them?" Archer asked as he gazed upon the bodies of four deceased people in the Medical bay. Phlox had placed each of them onto a medical bed, still in their body bags but unzipped to their torsos, in order to see their faces. It was clear that all four of them were human, three males and one female. It was also clear that they had been dead for quite some time.<p>

"I found them down here; they were placed in these body bags and laid in the morgue." Said Phlox

"Who were they?" Archer asked.

"This one here," Phlox said as he raised the dog tag around the neck of a dark haired male, "was named John Sheppard, a Lt. Colonel in the United States Air Force, if I am reading his identification tag correctly."

"Hmm, interesting, the 'United States' of America was officially dissolved in 1902 by the, then, President Roosevelt, before he declared himself Emperor of the new American Empire." Said Archer. "The flag insignia on his left shoulder seems very similar to the flag of the Ancient United States of America from a few hundred years ago. What about the others?"

"Well, this one here is called Dr. Rodney McCay, from a place called Canada. I can read no official rank from his identification tags, so I can only assume that he was a civilian." Said Phlox.

"Canada… The Canadian Territories were conquered by the ancient United States in late 1813, during the second year of the Second British War. President George Washington had all of the captured soldiers sold into slavery. A few Québécois talked about going back to France, but they all disappeared and were never heard from again." Said Archer.

"George Washington… How long was he president for again? Was it until 1816?" asked Phlox

"1817, he retired after 36 years as president. General Andrew Jackson took office afterwards." He answered. "What about the other two?"

"This rather attractive female unfortunately has no identification tags, but judging from her physical appearance however, and her relative state of health before she died, I would conclude that she was very physically fit when she was still alive. I can only assume that she may have been a soldier or warrior of some kind seeing that she carried the same projectile weaponry on her body as the two previous males did." Phlox said over the body of the dark skinned woman.

"I see, and the last one?" asked Archer

"Well this rather large and unruly looking gentleman isn't dressed in the same manner as the other three. So, I can only guess that he was probably from an outside organization from the others. He doesn't have any identification tags either." Phlox stated.

Archer scanned over the four bodies that laid before him and pondered. "Who put them in these body bags doctor? It wasn't the Tholians was it?"

"The Tholians? Of course not, the Tholians would've just jettisoned them out into space, or at the very least just left them where they were. No, it wasn't the Tholians. My only conclusion is that they were put in the bags by other humans, probably members of the original crew of this ship." Said Phlox.

"Did they have anything on them that can be useful?" Archer asked

"Not really, the only things that they had on their persons' were some antiquated projectile weaponry. I've put them on one of the examining tables over there. But the large male had an interesting hand held energy weapon. I had one of the engineers examine it, he told me that the weapon appears to be able to fire highly-charged bolts of particle energy. He referred to it as a Particle Magnum, I believe he was making a joke due to its size, however, in this case I rather think that the label suits it quite nicely." Said Phlox.

Suddenly Commander Tucker along with Sgt. Mayweather and the MACO's came running into the medical bay, carrying the corpse of one the members of the crew. His body was mangled and shredded and blood soaked the ratted pieces of his uniform.

"What the hell happened here!" shouted Archer.

"He was attacked!" replied Tucker.

"I can see that, but by what?" Said Archer

"I don't know sir." Said Tucker

"Throw him on the examining table, I'll examine him." Stated Phlox

"While he's doing that, I want this ship combed from head-to toe! Find the thing that killed this man!" Said Archer.

The MACO's obeyed and exited the medical bay, on the hunt to find the thing responsible for the slaying of one of their own.

* * *

><p>The initial search for the thing that attacked their crewman turned up nothing. Not long after however, the staff was gathered on the bridge to learn of the doctor's findings.<p>

"I found traces of reptilian DNA in the ensign's wounds. The bite radius would suggest a particularly large reptile, over two meters in length." Said Phlox

"Can you find this thing on internal sensors?" asked Archer.

"It's not in the primary hull, and the internal sensors are still offline in the engineering decks." T'Pol replied

"Perhaps it's a pet, owned by one of the original crew." Reed said, trying to find a practical reason for the attack.

"Not unless one of them owned a velociraptor I find it extremely unlikely." Phlox stated flatly and somewhat pompous.

At that moment Tucker walked onto the bridge with determination in his step. "There are no signs of the control crystals, without them we can't initialize the hyperdrive… We're stuck at sublight."

"Whoever sabotaged us knew exactly which components to steal." Said T'Pol

A few moments later, Archer came to a conclusion. "The slaves we've captured, bring one of them to the briefing room." He was going to get to the bottom of this one way or another.

* * *

><p><strong>Authors Note:<strong> A little of the Terran Empire's history talked about in this chapter. Not too much though, and seeing as there are not a lot of true, reliable references about the Terran Empire before the 22nd century. So as the chapters go on, some of the history I'll make up while others I'll end up borrowing from multiple online sources that I believe would fit into the story.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

The blue-skinned alien slave howled in pain as Sgt Mayweather punched him yet once more. Covered in cuts, purple bruises and bleeding from his ears and mouth, the MACO's knuckles dug into his skin over-and-over again.

"What attacked my crewman?" Archer demanded from the alien.

"He told us that he'd kill us if we told you…" The alien replied in fear.

"I'll kill you now if you don't." Archer stated flatly.

"Please!" The alien begged and began to weep, both in pain and in terror.

"Step aside." Archer told Mayweather and upholstered his newly acquisitioned handheld energy weapon. He had recently obtained from the medical bay, which had once belonged to the large, scraggily looking and now deceased male human.

"T'Pol to Major Reed." T'Pol said through the intercom.

"Reed here." He replied

"Prepare to send another prisoner to the briefing room." T'Pol said, seeing the only logical outcome from this interrogation would be the death of the current prisoner.

"Acknowledged." Reed confirmed.

"From what I've been told, there are three settings on this weapon. As you can see the color on the cylinder of the weapon, it changes color when you adjust the toggle; Amber is for stun, Red is for kill, and White is for incinerate. However, I'm more interested in the kill setting personally, I was told that this setting is capable of blowing a hole the size of your head right through someone's body. I've been looking forward to trying it." Archer sneered as he held the large energy pistol at point-blank range next the alien's temple.

Cowering in dread and trembling in fright the alien relented and confessed what he knew. "His name is Slar."

"Whose name?" asked Archer.

"Our slave master… He was in charge of the salvage operation when you boarded this ship… He hid in the service crawlways, he was planning to sabotage the ship…" the alien whimpered.

"Where in the crawlways!" Archer demand.

"Possible near the power transfer regulator systems on deck nineteen… It's warm there, his species likes it warm." The alien said.

"Which species!" shouted Archer.

"Gorn… He's a Gorn…" the alien said.

As those words were spoken, the anger surging through Archer's body suddenly changed to trepidation. Gorns were highly dangerous, even if you were armed; the likelihood of surviving a confrontation with a Gorn was small.

* * *

><p>"We had it cornered here, near the aft section on deck nineteen. But it escaped through this access tube," Reported Reed as he pointed out the failed attempt to capture the Gorn on a monitor display of the Daedalus "That's when we lost contact with McKenzie and Brown."<p>

"I'd have better luck if I sent a squad of Tellarites to hunt this thing. Put an assault team together I'll lead it myself." Archer said, getting angry over the fact that they still haven't been able to catch the Gorn, and lost two additional men because of it.

Ensign Hoshi Sato was at her new communications station and detected a signal from within the ship. "Sir I'm picking up a signal from inside the ship, I think it's the reptile."

"Can you pinpoint its location?" asked Archer

"The frequency is scrambled." She said

"I want to talk to him." Said Archer

Hoshi obeyed his orders and punched in the commands to link the signal with the bridge, and nodded when the channels were open.

"This is Commander Archer, return our control crystals now." He said

"I want to get off this ship." Came a synthesized, yet growling and raspy voice.

"Give me what I want and we'll talk about it." Said Archer

"No! I know your species, humans are not trustworthy. Give me a shuttlecraft, once I'm away from this ship, I'll tell you where to find the crystals." Said the Gorn.

"This is not a negotiation! Give me the crystals now! If you don't comply I'll give the order to…" Suddenly he was cutoff, as the signal went dead.

"He closed the channel." Said Hoshi

"Major, put an assault team together, your best men!" Archer ordered Reed.

"Yes sir." Reed answered.

"The Gorn's offer is reasonable." T'Pol said to Archer as Reed went to gather his assault team.

"He has no intention to return those crystals, if we give him a shuttle he'll contact his people and come back with a war fleet, and without hyperdrive we'll be an easy target… Besides, it's not like we exactly have a shuttle to give him in the first place. The only things onboard this ship that even come close to a shuttle are the escape pods we collected and the two cylindrical, alien looking transports in the starboard hanger bay. What did Tucker call them?" Said Archer

"I believe he said that the computer's database referred to them as Puddle Jumpers." Stated T'Pol.

"Yes, those… According to Tucker, we couldn't even fly one of those things if we wanted too. The database stated that you needed a certain type of gene in your DNA to operate them. So it would really be a moot point in attempting to give the Gorn a shuttle craft that no one can operate now wouldn't it?" Said Archer.

T'Pol had to admit, his current logic could not be argued. The 'Puddle Jumpers,' as they were called were only capable of being flown by those who possessed a very specific genome with their DNA makeup. In Human DNA… If the records in the Daedalus's database were correct, which she had no reason to doubt. Giving the Gorn one of the shuttles would be futile. Accepting the Commander's logic, T'Pol merely nodded her head and watched him walk away.

* * *

><p>Archer finally made his way to Reed and his assault team, a total of three MACO's including Reed and himself. All armed with phase-pistols, and pulse rifles. Archer however was armed with the large particle magnum that once belonged to one of the dead humans in the medical bay. It felt solid and strong, but amazingly light for its size. The belt and holster wrapped around his waist comfortably as he followed the assault team to hunt down the Gorn. Using tricorders, Reed and his men, tracked it down to its last known location and proceeded from there, making their way to an access corridor on deck twelve.<p>

"There's a bio-sign, very faint. Approximately thirty meters ahead near access crawlway seven-alpha at junction three." Reed reported from the readings on his tricorder.

"I'll seal off the bulkhead here," Archer said indicating it on the tricorder that Reed held in his hand. "That'll leave him with only one escape route, flush him out into this junction, I'll be waiting for him."

To his knowledge, no human had ever survived an encounter with a Gorn before, and he didn't like the idea of going head long into a narrow and dimly lit corridor to go and fight one. But Archer was the Commanding Officer, and he hasn't failed the crew yet. He had no choice but to follow his orders. "Understood sir." Reed said nervously, and led the way followed by two other MACO's.

Cautiously making their way down the corridor, Reed and his team were on edge; so to say. Their heart rates were high as they scanned their surrounding like wounded animal searching for the predator on their trail. Weapons at the ready, silently stalking, they followed the tricorder readings, preparing themselves for the inevitable… Contact with the Gorn.

Six more meters ahead and around the corner of the next junction, the tricorder was indicating that the Gorn was stationary, possibly waiting for the assault. Reed signaled his men that the enemy was there, and they understood what to do. Taking their positions, they took point, and darted around the corner with their weapons high to ambush and kill the Gorn. Except for one thing… The Gorn wasn't there… They only found an open communicator on the floor that was making these strange chirping noises.

"Reed to Commander Archer…" He stated as he flipped open his own communicator.

"Go ahead." Archer's voice came back.

"It's not here; he's modified a communicator to give off a false bio-sign." Reed said

"Damn it… Meet us in junction three." Archer said, clearly angry that they were outsmarted by the reptile once again.

"Acknowledged." Reed replied and flipped closed his communicator. "Shut that bloody thing off!" He said as he made his way back down to the corner of the junction to await the arrival of Archer and the other MACO.

But as the communicator was closed, the Gorn transmitted a signal to blow the concealed detonator within it. Reed looked back as a high-pitched whine came from the communicator, "It's a trap!" He shouted and dove into the adjacent corridor as the bomb exploded. A flowing plume of fire spilled and soared overhead.

The explosion was both heard and felt by Archer and the MACO, instantly knowing what had happened they both advanced very carefully down the corridor to meet up with Reed and his men… If they were still alive, that is. They came to the site of the explosion, smoke filled the air, debris and rubble was scattered throughout the junction, and small fires were burning as some of the electrical conduits sparked and surged. From the scene before him, Archer could tell instantly that the two MACO's who were with Reed were dead. Body parts were strewn all over the place and the smell of burnt flesh had to be choked down. Reed had fared better than his men, his head was cut open and blood was pouring down his face, his back had been burned from the initial explosion and he was suffering from a mild concussion, but other than that he was in descent condition, nothing life threatening.

"I... I failed you sir…" Reed grunted.

"Grovel later Major, right now we still need to find the Gorn." Archer said. "T'Pol where is it?" He spoke into his communicator.

"The Gorn is now in the primary hull, on deck nine." She said.

"Get up Major, you're not dead yet." Archer said as he picked up the still weakened Reed from the ground. Lifting him up to his feet, the MACO gave him his pulse rifle back and continued ahead of them.

On deck nine, Reed, the MACO and Archer vigilantly, but warily made their way down the long passageway. The lights were dimmed, most likely due to the Gorn's tampering of the systems. The temperature in this section was also higher than normal, again, most likely due to the Gorn's tampering. The pain that was once coursing through Reed's body was now replaced with rage, the damn reptile had almost killed, and now he wanted revenge. Not just for himself, but for the two men that were killed in the bomb explosion.

It was here… Somewhere… They could feel it. Sweat trickled down their faces and their senses were on full alert. It was only a matter of time before they would be in a direct confrontation with the creature… But when? That was the question. Would it continue its cowardly guerilla like tactics, or would it fight them head-on? Just then, they received their answer.

After a few moments of stalking the sections on deck nine, the hair on the back of Archer's neck stood up, something was definitely there. Suddenly, there came a ferocious roar and a large figure descended from a dark space near the ceiling and pounced on the three humans like a tiger pouncing on its unsuspecting prey. Reed was clawed on his already injured back by the Gorn's feet and was knocked to the floor. His cranium hit the bulkhead floor hard, and was rendered unconscious, his weapon went flying.

Archer swung his particle magnum towards the Gorn but the large, green reptilian smacked it out of his hands like it was nothing, while at the same time kicking the other human in the sternum and sent him flying backwards. Archer reached back and grabbed Reed's pulse rifle, but before he could fire it, the Gorn once again attacked him and he found himself with his back on the ground and the Gorn on top of him. Its giant maw with rows of sharp teeth snapping at him, the strength of the Gorn was overwhelming as Archer attempted to push the thing away from him with the pulse rifle, getting in some lucky shots with the butt-stock. However, his luck soon ran out when the rifle cracked in half and Archer found himself, literally, holding it off with his bare hands. The beast's claws tearing into his arms and legs.

The MACO regained his footing at raised his rifle at the Gorn, but the Commander and the Gorn were battling with each other and rolling on the ground too much for his comfort to take the shot. He didn't want to risk shooting the Commander and accidentally killing him instead of the Gorn. That would leave him alone with the monster to combat. So he flipped his rifle around and ran up on the Gorn and started to hit the creature as hard and as many times as he could at the back of the head. Such blows would have killed a normal human, but the Gorn just seemed irritated by it and turned its attention on to the MACO, leaving Archer bleeding on the floor.

Archer took the opportunity and crawled away from the Gorn as much as could, he spotted his particle magnum on the floor not too far away and made his way to it. Looking back in time only to see the MACO being lifted off the ground by the powerful arms of the Gorn and then thrown head first into the bulkhead. Crushing his skull, and as if that wasn't enough, he was disemboweled for good measure. Reed still lied on the floor, still unconscious and with his back bleeding profusely. The Gorn turned and met Archer's gaze, he froze momentarily and desperately went for the magnum. The Gorn ran towards Archer with all of his speed; however Archer was able to grab the magnum before the Gorn got to him, and fired a blazing, crimson bolt of particle-energy at the reptile.

The ball of light struck the Gorn squarely in the shoulder and blew its massive arm from its socket. Scorched flesh and seared bones went flying through the air as the Gorn dropped to its knees, howling in anguish. Archer once again took aim as the Gorn tried to make it to its feet with the use of only one arm. The look of absolute wrath and hatred it showed towards him was undeniable. But that look of fury wouldn't halter Archer's resolve; he took aim and fired, this time striking the Gorn in the center of the beast's chest. The impact of the blast rocked the Gorn back into the bulkhead wall. A gaping hole in its chest, but somehow the reptile still had some life left in it. Barely able to move, it turned its gaze towards Archer in defiance of death.

Archer rose to his feet and achingly marched over to the Gorn like a conquering hero. The Gorn tried to hiss at him with its last breath, but no sound would escape its jaw, and Archer both calmly and triumphantly raised his weapon again. This time pointed at the Gorn's head and pulled the trigger, and smiled as he took the Gorn's life.

* * *

><p>"Daedalus star-log, January 18th, 2155; we have recovered the hyperdrive's control crystal's and Mr. Tucker assures me that we will have hyperdrive capability within the next half hour. In the mean time I have ordered a course to rendezvous with the assault fleet." Archer recorded.<p>

He had adopted the Commanding Officer's quarters as his own and was, at the moment, lying on a decently sized and very comfortable bed. Phlox had stitched up his wounds as best he could with the resources from the first aid kits they had on board, gave him a pain reliever, and even had a fresh pair of clothes waiting for him. Although he would highly doubt that they were exactly fresh, but Phlox had managed to find a way to clean them, and they did fit him very well. Phlox had stated that he wanted to examine the deceased humans, and the clothes they wore proved to be a little use for him. So he had one of the slaves clean and sanitize them for later use, and as Archer could not walk about his new ship in the tattered rags that were once his EVA suit, he had very little choice in the mater. Wear the clothes or go about nude on the ship. He chose to wear the clothes. As he was ending his star-log entry, a chime rang at his door.

"Enter." Said Archer

As the door slid open, Hoshi Sato entered the room with a bewildered look on her face. "Where did you get that?" she asked.

"From one of the deceased humans Phlox discovered earlier." He said

"Really?" Hoshi said with a bit of humor in her voice.

"It's not like I had many options you know, but what do you think? Looks good on me don't you think?" He said.

"Black does fit you well. What are those insignia's?" she asked

"Well this one here says Atlantis. From the computer's database, Atlantis was a secret base located somewhere in the Pegasus Galaxy." He indicated on his right shoulder.

"The Pegasus Galaxy, huh? I still find that hard to believe that this ship is not only from another universe, but another galaxy on top of it?" Hoshi stated.

"That's right, according to the computer; the base had only been in operation for a few years before the Daedalus ended up here." Said Archer

"How could they have established a base in another galaxy?" she asked

"I don't know, I haven't read that part yet. The database is pretty extensive." He said

Shaking her head, Hoshi could barely believe it. "What about the others?"

"The other one is a flag of a country on Earth called the United States of America." He pointed out on his left shoulder. "These up here on the collar are rank insignias… A Lieutenant Colonel if I remember correctly."

"That's nice." She said as she ran her hand across his chest, feeling the fabric underneath her fingers. "Not bad at all." She smiled. "So what have you been up to anyway?"

"I've been catching up on the information in computer's database." He said as he turned back to the antiquated looking computer on the desk.

"Oh?" Hoshi said as she lowered herself rather seductively onto his bed.

"Yeah… I can't seem to find it anywhere." He said rather worriedly.

"Find what?" she asked

"The Empire, I can't find any references to it anywhere. The current incarnation of the Empire began slowly back in 1902 when Roosevelt dissolved the United States. The Senators and the Representatives confirmed the dissolution in the Capitol and a new Imperial Constitution was written; and even more so in 1955, when Emperor Patton formed the North Atlantic Trade Organization, with the European Empire to patrol the world's oceans, in order to protect international trade from 'pirates' and the like." He said

"I know about history, but what does that have anything to do with us?" She asked him

"Well that's the point, apparently in the other universe; America was still at war in the Philippines in 1902, in our universe the Philippine Uprising ended before it even really began back in 1898. Half of the population was wiped in order to stamp out any future threats; and in 1955 a man by the name of Dwight D. Eisenhower was President, not Emperor, of the United States of America, not the American Empire, and NATO was established in back 1949. The Eastern Coalition was never formed and neither was the Western Alliance." Said Archer

"Hmm, okay. But why is that so important?" She said

"It just has me wondering, how the humans in other universe could have advanced so much under so many different types of governing bodies back on Earth, with every little piece of the planet vying for independence to rule for themselves without interference from a unified world government. It's just inconceivable to think that such a chaotic world could have survived for so long." He stated.

"Well it seemed to work well enough, considering that this ship is from the past." She stated somewhat accusingly.

"What are you trying to say?" Archer said as he focused a threatening gaze towards Hoshi on the bed.

"Oh nothing... Just that you said that this ship was from 150 years in the future, that's all. Of course I guess it wasn't your fault, maybe your contact just got the information wrong and thought it was from the future instead of the past." Hoshi said sarcastically.

"If I had told Forrest the truth about 'when' the ship came from, he would have aborted the mission, which was something we couldn't afford to let happen. Besides, I was right wasn't I? With the wealth of technology the Daedalus has to offer, the Terran Empire will enter a new golden of conquest and glory." He smiled

"That's true…" Hoshi said as she slid off the bed and made her way over to Archer, straddling his hips as he sat in his chair. "With this ship, the rebellion will be defeated in a matter of days; Starfleet will have no choice but to give you a command of your own."

"I already have a command of my own." Archer said harshly with fire burning in his eyes.

Hoshi knew that he was serious; he planned on taking command of the Daedalus for himself instead of bringing it back to Starfleet to have it reverse engineered. He must have been planning this all along.

"Tucker to Commander Archer." Tucker's voice came over the intercom.

"What is it now?" He said.

"We're almost done down here, we're running the last of simulations to make sure that everything will run smoothly so we won't blow up while trying to enter hyperspace and should be under way within the next ten minutes." Tucker said

"Good…" Archer simply replied.

"There's something else though sir… I think you need to see this for yourself." Said Tucker

Archer sighed to himself wondering what else it could be that he had to go to engineering himself for. "Very very, I'll meet you in engineering."

"Actually sir, if you can meet me on deck six, that's where I'll be at." He said.

"Fine, I'll be there. Archer out."

* * *

><p>"What is this thing?" Archer asked as he looked upon the huge piece of advanced machinery in front of him.<p>

"According to the ship's database, this is called an Alternate Reality Drive. It's a prototype, the people from the other universe were attempting to create, a drive that could actually break through the walls of reality and travel to different dimensions. They even developed a manner in which to track the different universes so they could find their way back if they ever got lost. But apparently the tracking system they developed didn't work properly and they had to abandon ship instead of risking being stuck in a hostile universe." Tucker explained

"Does it still work?" Archer asked

"No sir, unfortunately it's completely burned out. Apparently, whatever the last universe was that the ship had jumped to; it ended up getting caught within the event horizon of the interphasic rift that the Tholians created and was pulled into ours. That radiation from the rift shorted out the drive." Said Tucker

"Can you repair it?" said Archer

"No sir, that wouldn't be possible. Parts of it have been fused together and there are other parts that have been nearly charred by radiation. It would have to be taken back to Starfleet for the military scientists there to study. I'd guess that it'll take them at least ten years or so to fully understand the mechanics of this drive and have a functioning prototype in working order." Said Tucker

"Astonishing… With this drive at our disposal we could conquer whole new universes if we wanted to." Archer gleamed with excitement at the thought of it.

"There was also something else I've been wanting to show you sir…" Tucker said.

"And what would that be?" asked Archer.

Tucker walked over to the main control console and punched up several images on the viewing monitors.

"Well, this first one here is called a Naquadah Generator. At one point, it used to be the main power plant of the Daedalus, capable of generating a power an output of literally dozens of exowatts of every hour. Naquadah seems to be the key element in most of the technology onboard sir, without it, much of it would either be unusable, or severely diminished in their capacity." Tucker explained

"Damn, could we find a useable substitute for this Naquadah?" He asked

"I'm afraid not sir, I know of no element that would be able to replace it." Said Tucker

"I'm guessing that the Naquadah is only found in the other universe is that correct?" said Archer

"Well sir, that's what I wanted you to take a look at." Tucker said as he pointed out the next image. "From the files in the computer, this planet here is called Abydos. It had one of the largest Naquadah deposits in the known galaxy. It was used for everything from ship construction, to powering their ships and even their weapons. It was measured to be in the tens of billions of metric tons by a race known as the Goa'uld." Stated Tucker

"Goa'uld?" said Archer

"Yes sir, in the other universe they appear to be a race of parasitic organisms that had apparently enslaved a local human population on Earth and transported them to Abydos to be used as a slave labor force; they also used them as Hosts and would pass themselves off as Gods. Anyway, back to the main point, if Abydos in the other universe had such an abundance of Naquadah, then perhaps, the Abydos in our universe does as well." Tucker smiled

"That's brilliant, with the Naquadah in our hands; we would be able to use it in the same manner the other universe was able to. Do you know where this Abydos is?" He asked.

"Actually sir, yes I do, in fact we all do." Said Tucker

"What do you mean?" Said Archer

"Look at the image again sir, does it seem familiar to you at all?" Tucker said with a grin on his scarred face.

As Archer looked more closely at the image of the desert planet nothing came to his mind at first, he was beginning to get impatient with the chief engineer until he recognized one of the geographic areas in the northern half of the planet, and then the south and so on. Soon he realized that he had indeed seen this planet before. Many times in fact, he had been there personally.

"This can't be…" He said more to himself than he did to his engineer, but Tucker picked up on it anyway and ran with it.

"Yes sir… It's Vulcan; I even compared their star charts along with their spatial coordinates with ours three times to make sure. But it's true... Abydos in the other universe is Vulcan in ours, and if the geology of Vulcan is the same as Abydos, then it should have significantly large deposits of Naquadah underneath its surface, just waiting to be mined." He smiled.

"T'Pol… Where is she?" Archer demanded to know immediately.

"I don't know sir, but I'll send some of my people to find her. If there's anyone on board the Daedalus that knows anything about Naquadah deposits on Vulcan it would be her." He said

"Get her." Archer ordered.

"Yes sir." Tucker gladly obeyed.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> A little more history about the Terran Empire in this chapter. I found a website that gives the hypothetical Timeline of the Mirror Universe, and felt that it would fit my story pretty well. So I borrowed some of the events that were laid out in that timeline and used it in my story.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

T'Pol and Doctor Phlox were in the mess hall of the Daedalus, sitting at a table near one of the viewing ports, eating a small meal of what was left of the ration packs from the Enterprise's escape pods. Phlox was dressed in usual black physicians outfit while T'Pol had changed out of her underlining EVA suit into a low-cut, long-sleeved, black cotton top with a black leather vest, black leather pants and boots. Phlox had assured her that the clothes were sanitized from having been on the body of a dead human woman for, what was possibly, days or even weeks. She didn't like the idea of doing so, however, all she knew was that her suit was becoming unbearable to wear after having it on for so long, that she willingly accepted the dead woman's clothes. She did have to admit however, she did feel relieved to be wearing a new set of clothes, they fit her body very well, and they were quite comfortable.

"How is Major Reed's condition?" T'Pol asked, not out of concern for the man's well being, but out of simple curiosity.

"At this point he is still lying on the medical bed in a trauma induced coma, but he is stable. No doubt there will be some discreet celebrations should he not awake or his condition should turn for the worse." Phlox chuckled to himself.

"I've noticed that you've been making extensive use of the library database." T'Pol said

"I was merely researching classical literature; I wanted to compare our major works with their counterparts in the other universe. I skimmed a few of the more celebrated narratives. The stories were similar in some respects but their characters were weak and compassionate. With the exception of Shakespeare of course, from what I can tell his plays were equally grim in both universes." Phlox smiled to himself.

"I've been examining their historical files, and I've notices that there was no mention of the Terran Empire in other universe. In fact most of Earth appears to be severely fractioned, with local territories governing themselves in many different types of governments." Said T'Pol

"Yes I've noticed that as well… Chaotic if you ask me." Said Phlox

"I must agree, one nation would wage war against the other with an assortment of destructive weaponry, and yet they also managed to somehow construct a space faring ship like the Daedalus." T'Pol stated.

"True, I do remember the files mentioning an alien Empire in the other universe called the Goa'uld System Lords, or something similar to that effect. It would appear that most of humanity throughout the galaxy was their slaves, used as a cheap labor force and foot soldiers for their masters. Ironic really, that in the other universe, it is humanity that are the ones underfoot of another alien race and not vice versa, as it is here. I wonder what a universe like that would be like." Phlox said warily, making sure that none of the humans in the mess hall over heard his words.

"I can't comment on that, all I know is of this universe and the way it is here. But I must agree, that the thought of humans being, on the other side of the fence, as they would say; does have its appeal." Said T'Pol. "I did find something curious about the historical files however." She added.

"Oh? And what would that be?" Said Phlox

"It would appear that all of the historical entries end within the first decade of the twenty-first century." She said.

"What are you suggesting?" he asked

"That this ship is from the past and not the future as Commander Archer had previously stated. He lied about its true origins." T'Pol stated

"Hmm…" Phlox grumbled, not really wanting to comment on the revelation.

"You don't find this interesting?" she asked him.

"I find it dangerous. You can't simply go about saying that the Commander lied about this ship, even if it is true. He has proven without a doubt that taking this ship was well worth the risks. Even with the loss of the Enterprise, the technology contained onboard will be able to aid the Empire to spread further than anyone has ever dreamed of before, and it would be in our best interest to be in the Commander's good graces when that happens. He will unquestionably be promoted to Captain if not an Admiral because of this. We may benefit from it as well. If I were you I'd be very careful about accusing him openly… Even privately." Phlox warned T'Pol.

All of a sudden two Starfleet crewmen walked up behind T'Pol in a very serious manner. Both Phlox and T'Pol became anxious, believing that the two men had overheard their previous conversation.

"Commander T'Pol please come with us. Commanders Archer and Tucker wish to see you" One of the men said.

"About what exactly?" she asked.

"They didn't say." He responded.

"Where are the commanders located?" she asked.

"They are in the A.R.D. room on Deck Six." He responded

"The A.R.D. room?" she questioned.

"Yes, and we are to escort you there… Now…" He said sternly, obviously beginning to lose patience with the Vulcan female.

"Very well, I will follow you." T'Pol responded and stood to leave the table, leaving behind a fairly bland emergency ration pack.

* * *

><p>The two crewmen escorted the Vulcan female, as they called her in private, to Deck Six. T'Pol had not yet been to this level of the ship and honestly did not know what existed here. She had not remembered reading anything called the A.R.D. room in ships computer files. However, she had to admit that she had not yet read all of the files within the Daedalus's database, so it was quite possible that she just simply had not gotten that far. Finally, they reached a section on Deck Six that was marked Alternate Reality Drive. It took her by surprise, what could the inference of labeling such a room possibly mean? When she entered the room, it looked like nothing more than a simple cargo bay, which was until she walked in and saw with her own eyes what lay beyond the blast doors.<p>

The two crewmen left as T'Pol entered the room. In the room were both Commanders Archer and Tucker, however, what caught her attention was not the sight of her superiors, but instead the large piece of advanced machinery that was behind them. It spanned from the deck to the ceiling, and nearly encompassed half of the back room; it was an imposing piece of technology. Whether it was purposefully intended to be designed that way T'Pol was not certain. However, her concentration from the large apparatus was switched immediately when she realized that her human superior officers were standing there in the room, staring her down.

"Do we have your attention now Commander?" Archer asked, standing by the bulky computer console with Commander Tucker.

She had not noticed when she first entered the room that Archer was no longer wearing his EVA suit, but was now dressed in an old-fashioned, Earth-styled military uniform. It was all black except for some patches on both shoulder and what appeared to be rank insignia on his collar. Apparently, she wasn't the only one who decided to take Dr. Phlox's offer to take the clothing from the dead humans in the medical bay. In fact, Commander Tucker also was wearing the clothes of one of the deceased. His too was also all black, except one of his shoulder patches was different that one of the ones on Archer's uniform. It had a patch of a red maple leaf with two red stripes on either side. T'Pol assumed it was to represent a flag of one of the many nations she had read about in the database. There were no rank insignias on his uniform though, however it was not like that would make any real difference. He was still human, and even though that he was an engineer and the fact that she had reached the rank of Commander before Tucker, he still outranked her.

"Yes sir." She answered Archer.

"Good… We have some questions for you." Said Archer

"Yes sir." She said.

"Okay T'Pol," Tucker said in his southern accent. "What can you tell us about Naquadah?"

At the mention of Naquadah, T'Pol barely, but visibly flinched in utter shock, which didn't go unnoticed by her Commanders.

"So you do know of it then?" said Archer

"Yes sir…" She said hesitantly.

"Well if you know of it, then how come we've never heard of it before until now?" Said Tucker

"We Vulcans are forbidden to speak of it; Naquadah is considered to be 'taboo' by my people." T'Pol spoke, visibly anxious about disclosing such a taboo to anyone who was not Vulcan.

"Oh really, and why is that?" Asked Tucker

"Sir, why are you questioning me about Naquadah, Vulcans haven't done anything with…" T'Pol tried to explain her way out of divulging too much about the destructive element to the two of them, if they discovered what Naquadah was truly capable of, then the Empire would have a new weapon to use against the galaxy. What made her even more nervous however, was the fact that they had found out about its existence in the first place.

"We are asking Commander because one of the key components in the construction of this ship is Naquadah, the power systems can be fueled by Naquadah and the weapons system can be powered by Naquadah also... We are asking because the ship's database contains large files about the mineral and where it can be found… We are asking because in the other universe, Naquadah seems to be a key element in almost every major advanced technology… We are also asking because, also in the other universe, one of the major sources of Naquadah appears to be on a planet that they called Abydos, but in our universe, Abydos is called Vulcan…" Archer stated intensely as he watched T'Pol's response. She trembled slightly, whether from fear or something else he couldn't tell, nor did he care. All he cared about was getting the information he wanted. "So I'll order you again, tell us what you know about Naquadah, because if you don't then I'll have little choice except to beam you out into open space."

She shuddered under Archer's threat, a threat which she knew to be an honest one. She couldn't betray her people by revealing the nature of Naquadah, but they already knew about it from the Daedalus's computer files. She should've done more research from the computer files… She should've deleted all references to Naquadah before Archer discovered it… But now it was too late… They knew, and now all she could do stand there, frozen in terror about what to do next and unable to speak.

"Fine then, have it your way, Mister Tucker prepare the transporters too…" Archer began to order.

"Wait!" T'Pol shouted; panic and fear overtook her Vulcan logic and emotional control.

"So you'll tell us then." Archer smiled slightly.

"Yes…" T'Pol relented. "I'll tell you…" She couldn't help but feel as if she had betrayed her entire people by agreeing to tell them what she knew. But it would no longer matter. The humans already knew, the ship's computer files contained information about it and where it was located. The only thing she could do now was survive…

"Then start." Tucker said impatiently.

"Almost 1,800 years ago, during Earth's 4th Century PAC, Vulcan was a planet in chaos… War would last for generations, the Vulcan people were split between many different political and ideological factions. During the last Great War on Vulcan, Surak helped construct one of the earliest known atomic weapons to have existed on Vulcan." T'Pol said

"We don't need damn history lesson, tell us about the Naquadah." Said Archer

"I'm getting to it sir." T'Pol replied. "When Surak was working on the atomic weapons, he discovered a previously unknown mineral in the valleys at the base of Mount Seleya. It was here that the potential of the mineral was realized. His tests had shown that the mineral was capable of great destructive capabilities, and Surak used it in his atomic weapons design. He eventually gave the mineral a name… Naquadah… At the end of the war, Surak and his faction deployed their Naquadah enhanced atomic bombs against another faction in hopes of bringing about an unconditional surrender… Instead, the weapon completely annihilated all the inhabitants in the southern continent." T'Pol said, growing quite now. "The bomb was estimated to possess a destructive yield of nearly 600 megatons… Surak and his people did not know that when they launched their bombs however, all they knew was that it would end the war in their favor. They only found out just how damaging it was after they had launched all of their bombs."

"How many did they use?" asked Tucker

"Three… Over 800 million Vulcans lost their lives… Needless to say that the war was over… Surak and his followers feared the destructive power of the Naquadah and forbade anyone to ever use the mineral for any purpose ever again. They sealed the entrance to the mines that lead to the Naquadah veins underneath Mount Seleya and never spoke of it again. Not long after that, Surak began the teachings of the IDIC and Vulcan logic. He believed that it was our emotions which nearly destroyed our own world and brought us to the brink of Armageddon. Ever since then, no one had ever attempted to mine the Naquadah… The horrific destruction of the southern continent was too great… No one dared to repeat that nightmare…" T'Pol finished, trying desperately to hold back the flood of emotions rushing to the forefront of her mind.

"So your people have just been sitting on this stuff, without a single care in the world about it, or that it could be used for great power?" Said Tucker.

"It is forbidden." Said T'Pol

"Well then let me ask you this, if it is so forbidden to even speak about, then how do you know so much about it ? Asked Tucker

"All Vulcans are told of the Great Holocaust as children, in order to teach us of the dangers of our emotions. However, after we learn of the events that took place 1,800 years ago and what was involved that brought it about, we are sworn to never speak of it to anyone. We are even discouraged to talk about it amongst our own people… As I said it is forbidden." T'Pol explained.

"It won't be forbidden for too much longer." Said Archer.

The implications of Archer's statement sent chills through T'Pol's spine. "What do you mean?"

"We plan on mining the Naquadah, and along with the technology from the Daedalus, we will be able to increase the Might and power of the Empire a hundred fold." He smiled. "Thank you very much Commander, you're dismissed."

T'Pol turned as she quickly left the A.R.D. room. Her breathing was heavy and her heart felt as if a giant hand had grasped it inside her chest and began to squeeze the life out of it. Archer was planning to use the Naquadah to destroy the rebels and conquer the rest of the galaxy. Combined with the technology on this ship, he may very well possibly be able to… For the first time in her life, she felt lost and unsure of herself…

* * *

><p>"Tucker to the bridge." The engineer's voice came over the intercom.<p>

"This is Archer, report Commander." Said Archer

"We've completed running the final simulations for the hyperdrive, everything is in order and we are ready to engage the hyperdrive on your command." Said Tucker

"Good… Just out of curiosity, how long will it take us to get there?" He asked.

"The rendezvous point for the assault fleet is 32.7 light years from our current position. At maximum hyperdrive speed we should arrive at our destination in approximately 3.76 seconds." Tucker answered.

"Excellent, engage the hyperdrive." He ordered

"Aye sir." Tucker obeyed. Because of the fact that this was the first time that the crew had operated this kind of drive before, the hyperdrive was being controlled from engineering rather than the helm, should anything happen, he wanted to be there to fix it. In addition, he wanted to be the first person in Imperial history to initiate such a drive. Sitting at his console, he punched in the commands for the location of the assault fleet and engaged the hyperdrive.

On the bridge, the bridge crew viewed through the observation window as the Daedalus opened up a brilliant sapphire and violet colored energy field in space ahead of them. The hyperspace window it generated was beautiful as the ship effortlessly glided through it with the grace of a soaring falcon. When it passed through the window it dove into the realm of hyperspace, and the crew were the first to witness what hyperspace truly looked like. A conduit of blues, whites and purples passed over them with just a barely visible background of normal space-time behind the luminous field of colors. Every soul on board the Daedalus's bridge was in awe at what they saw. However, the funnel of beauty did not last long, in just under four seconds that had passed, the ship dove out of hyperspace and back into normal space in a bright flash. But, to those of the crew the time seemed to go on for much longer than a mere four seconds.

However, as soon as the ship exited from hyperspace the alarms on board the ship began to blare, as the ship automatically detected weapons fire not far from their position. Red flashing lights flooded the bridge and throughout the ship, warning the crew of imminent danger.

"This is Commander Archer all hands to battle stations!" Archer ordered throughout the ship over the intercom.

Flying at maximum sublight, the Daedalus flew through a field of debris and rubble. Hunks of metal and shattered pieces of starships littered the region of space, both rebel and imperial.

"Commander, sensors indicate only one Starfleet and four rebel ships in the area." Said T'Pol

"What ship?" he asked

"The Avenger sir, they are being fired upon by the rebels, their shields have failed and hull plating is only at thirty-two percent. They are taking heavy fire… They won't last much longer sir." T'Pol said

"Raise shields! Helm, set an intercept course and fire when we are in weapons range." Archer ordered.

"Aye yes, setting an intercept course." Replied Mayweather, who taken the helm position. Now dressed in brown pants and a, brown leather coat taken from the large human male in the medical bay, Mayweather piloted the Daedalus into battle.

* * *

><p>Sparks exploded on the bridge of the Avenger as consoles burst into flames. Fires began to spread as the ship continued to take heavy damage. Admiral Black checked the pulse of his helmsman, but to no avail as he saw a piece of shrapnel lodged into his skull.<p>

"Report!" he shouted.

"Shields are down! Hull plating at thirty-two percent and dropping fast! We have a hull breach on Deck B, emergency bulkheads are in place. Warp drive is down and anti-matter containment is at twelve percent! We can't anymore of this kind of punishment Admiral!" Yelled Soval, a crewman and one of the few Vulcans left alive on board the Avenger.

"Concentrate fire on the Andorians!" Black ordered as another console overloaded and sparked.

"Admiral there is another ship approaching!" Soval shouted over the rumbling of the shaking ship.

"More rebels?" said Black

"No…" Soval said, unsure of what this new alien ship represented.

The Daedalus flew into the fray like a hawk swooping in on its prey. With its plasma-energy weapons fully charged, it fired a blue beam of light that punctured straight through the Andorian shields like a flaming sword through a block of butter. The hull of the Andorian war ship melted away in an instant and exploded as the beam struck the warp reactor and engulfed the ship in a pluming ball of fire and smoke. Passing through the ball of fire, the Daedalus locked onto another Andorian vessel and fired again. Just as before, the plasma beams cut through the shields and destroyed the ship as casually as one would step on a bug.

"Directs hits." Said Mayweather

Faint thumping noises echoed throughout the bridge of the Daedalus as the remaining rebel forces fought back against the new threat. "The Tellarites have opened fire… No damage to shields." Said T'Pol

"Lock onto their reactor and fire." Archer smiled

Mayweather complied and fired the Daedalus's weapons at the Tellarite ship, and blew it out of the sky. "Target destroyed." He said

"The Vulcan ship is trying to escape." Said Hoshi.

T'Pol became instantly concerned at the thought of her fellow Vulcans becoming the next victims of the Daedalus's awesome power. "Sir they pose no threat to us, I recommend that we allow them to leave and inform the rebels of their defeat." T'Pol hastily stated, hoping that Archer would accept her reasoning and agree to it.

"You can't be serious, that ship and its crew are guilty of rebellion, if we let them…" Hoshi started to protest T'Pol's suggested course of action.

"Let it go, T'Pol makes a good point. I want the other rebels to know what happened here today." Archer said

"Sir, sensors are reading Avenger's anti-matter containment has failed! Warp core breach in twenty seconds!" Mayweather shouted.

"Emergency transport, beam the warp core as far away as possible and extend the ship's shields around the Avenger!" said Archer.

"Aye sir." Mayweather complied.

A few moments later, a flash of light appeared far off in deep space approximately half a million kilometers from their current location. The light blue bubble of Daedalus's shields extended and enveloped the Avenger under its protection just as the warp core went critical. The explosion went out waves of subspace disturbance in all directions, pushing away the debris of the battlefield, the Daedalus on the other hand, along with the Avenger under its wing, felt next to nothing as tidal waves crashed into the shields. As the explosion ebbed and came to an end, the only two things left standing, as it were, were the Daedalus and the crippled Avenger.

"Get me Admiral Black." Said Archer

"Aye sir." Hoshi replied.

On the bridge of the Avenger, Admiral Black along with Soval and an Andorian crewman were scrambling to check the status of their ship. The warp core had breached, that much they knew, but what they didn't know was how they were still alive. The ejection system to the warp reactor had failed but they somehow managed through it. Suddenly there was a faint noise emanating from somewhere on the bridge and then an image of a tall middle-aged human man materialized in an array of rippling and shimmering light in front of the view screen. The image was not on the view screen itself, but rather standing about two meters in front of it.

"Archer?" said Black

"Yes Admiral, it's me." Archer grinned

"How the hell did you get on my ship?" Black demanded to know.

"Actually sir, I'm not on your ship. I'm on the Daedalus, what you're seeing right now is a holographic projection." He smirked

"The Daedalus? The alien ship that destroyed those rebels?" said Black

"That's right sir, I'm sorry we were late to the party Admiral, but it better late than never." He said.

"Where's the Enterprise? Is Captain Forrest with you?" Black asked.

"It's going to take some time to explain sir, perhaps you would like to see the Daedalus yourself." Archer said, knowing that Black would have no choice. His ship was crippled and stuck in the water. Without warp drive, the Avenger would be destined to float in deep space throughout eternity.

"Very well then Commander," Black said with venom. "Prepare to beam me aboard that ship of yours."

* * *

><p>The doors to the briefing room slid open as Black, along with his MACO bodyguard and Soval entered the room, followed by Archer and a few members of his bridge staff. Soval nodded his head slightly upon seeing his friend, and fellow Vulcan, T'Pol already in the briefing room, waiting to greet them.<p>

"A most impressive vessel Commander." Black said smugly. "With the technologies on board this ship at our disposal, the rebels won't stand a chance."

"I'm glad you agree sir." Said Archer

"I intend to recommend that you get your own command at the earliest opportunity." Black said

"With all due respect sir, you have the authority to grant a battlefield promotion." Archer said with some small amount of anticipation.

The look of delight upon Black's face fell instantly at Archer's suggestion, "Unfortunately, we don't have a ship to give you at the moment."

"The Daedalus." Said Archer

"I'm sure the Fleet Admiral has other plans for the ship. Once we reach Earth, we'll dissemble it and learn its tactical systems. Our experts would want to examine it themselves, and with any luck, we should be able to replicate the technology and upgrade our ships in the fleet. The rebels won't know what hit them; this ship could very well alter the course of the war…" Black said, feeling superior to his subordinate.

As he listened to the Admiral's half-assed excuse, Archer knew that there was no way that he was going to let him become a Captain, let alone a Captain of this ship. In fact, if he was lucky, he'll end up commanding a moon shuttle. Black was planning to present the Daedalus to the Emperor himself and he'll receive all the credit and rewards alone while Archer will end up nothing more than a historical footnote. While Black on the other hand would have whole chapters if not entire books dedicated to him about how he alone captured the Daedalus and brought about a new age to the Empire.

"The people of the Earth are in your debt Commander." Black smiled.

"That's Captain…" Archer growled and glanced over at Mayweather, knowing what course of action to take next. "You're relieved of duty Admiral."

At that moment Mayweather executed a powerful roundhouse kick to the back of the neck of the unsuspecting MACO body guard, instantly dropping him to the floor. As Black witnessed this act of insubordination, he attempted to pull his phase pistol from his holster. However, his actions to save his own life were far too slow as Archer had already pulled his own particle magnum from its holster and fired a powerful blast of crimson energy right into the Admiral's chest. The power of the impact slammed Black backwards into the bulkhead. Sliding down the wall, the Admiral's smoking corpse slumped over in a rather undignified manner as Archer stood over the dead body.

"No one is going to take this ship away from me." Archer spoke to himself in a low menacing tone. "Things are going to change around here…"

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> The Calendar dating goes like this… the Terran Empire uses PAC for "Primo Anno Caesar," which is Latin for "First Year of the Emperor," which is the year of the Announcement of Octavius Augustus Caesar, being crowned as the Father of the Roman Empire, or "Pater Patriae". They use APAC for "Ante Primo Anno Caesar," which stands for "Before the First Year of the Emperor." I feel that this kind of year-numbering system best fits with the Terran Empire in the Mirror Universe. In the TOS, they referred to the Emperor as "Caesar;" and in STE, in a deleted scene, Archer refer to "the Gods" in a speech. So, this leads me to believe that the Christians were either wiped out by the Roman Empire, or they never existed. So, using BC/BCE, "Before Christ, or Before Common Era," and the AD/CE, "Anno Domini, or Common Era," year-numbering system, would not fit into the continuity of the story. Plus, making the year-numbering system more Romanesque or Latinized just seemed appropriate.

Historically speaking, in the real world the Romans used the AUC year-numbering system, for "Anno Urbis Conditae." This is Latin for "Founding Year of the City," meaning the City of Rome, and Octavius Augustus Caesar was actually given the title of "Pater Patriae" in February of 2 BC/BCE. I am also almost done going over the previous chapters of this story and will be writing news chapters soon.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

Standing on the top landing of the Avenger's shuttle bay, leaning against the railing, Archer looked down at the surviving crewmembers of the Avenger, along with his own command staff, standing in formation. Less than twenty had survived the battle with the rebels, but it didn't matter… It was all he needed to turn the tide.

"Our entire assault fleet, wiped out, by a rebel attack and thousands of your fellow Starfleet officers and personnel are dead. If the Daedalus hadn't arrived when it did, all of you would be among them… And who are we to blame for this! Not the brave men and women who gave their lives for the Empire... The criminals who are losing this war are sitting in their comfortable offices back at Starfleet Command. Their weakness invited our enemies to strike and their corruption and arrogance has brought the Empire to its knees, on the brink of defeat." Archer said as he paced along the walkway.

"I've been a soldier all my life and I will not stand by and let these people destroy an Empire that has endured for centuries! I ask you… All of you… Join me; we cannot put down this rebellion so long as our forces are commanded by dishonorable men! Before we can defeat the rebels, we must defeat them. That ship out there is the key to our victory. With the Daedalus on our side, there will be nothing to stop us. With your help, I will return to Earth and restore the Empire to its former glory. Let us advance, where the omens of the Gods and the crimes of our enemies summon us! The dye is now cast! Therefore, I ask you again… Will you join me!" said Archer

There was a chorus of cheers from the Avenger's crew as they pounded their chests with their fists and would thrust them out in front, in hail of salutes. T'Pol merely followed the motions of the rest, not wanting to be picked out by Archer and face his wrath.

"Then give blessings to the Gods, for we will go forth and bring about a stronger and more powerful Empire than ever thought possible. Long live the Empire!" Shouted Archer

"Long live the Empire!" The crew sounded off in unison.

* * *

><p>On board the Daedalus in the starboard hangar bay, Archer had placed T'Pol in charge of the salvage operation of the Avenger. With its warp core gone, and its tactical systems non-operational, the ship was dead in the water. Therefore, Archer had given the order to cannibalize the Avenger for any useful tools, parts and equipment that they may be able to use on board the Daedalus; along with food, water and uniforms. Tucker, Mayweather and T'Pol had returned to wearing their authorized uniforms, however Archer continued to wear the black one that he had taken earlier from Phlox.<p>

As strange as it seemed, T'Pol felt more comfortable wearing her standard Starfleet uniform, with her bare midriff exposed, and with her phase pistol and dagger at her hips. She held a data pad in her hand as he continued to inventory the supplies being beamed aboard from the Avenger.

"How's it going Commander?" said a voice from behind her.

She turned to see Commander… Correction… Captain Archer standing with his arms crossed. She noticed that the black uniform that was wearing had been altered; both of the original patches on the shoulders had been removed along with the rank insignia. The one on his right shoulder however, had been replaced by the insignia of the Terran Empire; the straight sword piercing through the axis of the Earth in a display of power. Apparently, Archer preferred the straight black uniform instead of the Starfleet standard. It made him look more imposing, which was probably exactly what he intended.

"It's going well sir; we have beamed aboard nearly seventy percent of all the usable supplies from the Avenger that survived the rebel attack. Doctor Phlox and a small engineering team provided by Commander Tucker have been installing the imaging chamber from Avenger's sick bay to upgrade the Daedalus's own medical bay. Last reports state that they are nearly completed with the installations and should be up and running within the half hour." T'Pol reported.

"I bet Phlox will enjoy having a real sickbay again to continue his experiments in." Archer grinned

"I am sure he will." T'Pol said somewhat disgustingly, she never liked Phlox's notion of medical research with the dissection and carrying out tests on carcasses of animals and sentients.

"How much longer until everything is on board?" he asked.

"Approximately one hour and the salvage operation should be completed sir." Said T'Pol.

"Good, let me know when you're done." Said Archer

"Yes sir." T'Pol replied

As Archer turned to make his out and back to the bridge, Major Reed, dressed in his standard MACO uniform came walking into the hangar bay, with his standard issued pulse rifle at 'sling arms.'

"Major Malcolm Reed reporting for duty sir." Reed said, and in customary Imperial fashion, came to attention and saluted his superior officer as he approached and Archer returned the salute.

"I see that you're up on your feet Major. Phlox gave you a clean bill of health I presume." Said Archer.

"Well, clean enough sir. He gave me some pain medication that should allow me to perform my duties without any problems." Said Reed

"Good then you can assume your position at tactical on the bridge for now." Said Archer

"Actually sir, if I could make a proposal..." Said Reed

"Exactly what kind of a proposal Major?" Said Archer

"Phlox was kind enough to fill me in on the most recent events of late, after I threatened to kill him if he continued to keep me in the medical bay that is." Reed snickered.

"Oh…" Archer stated

"Yes sir, and I think I might a way to 'kill two birds with one stone,' as it were." He smiled.

* * *

><p>"I read about it in the tactical files in the ship's database. It's called the 'Horizon,' it has ten separate Mark IX Naquadria-enhanced, tactical nuclear missiles within this bullet shaped module, and each of these ten missiles are capable of a multi-gigaton detonation." Reed smiled as the Captain and the Major stood within the bomb bay on the bottom deck of the Daedalus.<p>

"Naquadria?" Said Archer

"Yes, sir. I read up on that as well, and according to the ship's computer files; Naquadria is a highly unstable radioactive isotope of Naquadah, which has the potential to be an enormously powerful energy source. Even a very small amount can emit a pulse of energy far greater than refined, weapons grade Naquadah, and when used as a weapon, it has the potential to be more powerful than a Naquadah-enhanced nuclear warhead, as we've seen in the Mark VIII tactical missiles that destroyed the Tholians." Reed explained

"It's a planet destroyer…" Archer smiled

"Yes sir, just think of the power that this weapons platform is capable of… Just one of these platforms can vaporize the entire surface of a planet, reducing the continents it to molten lava almost instantaneously." Said Reed

"You've been doing a lot of reading haven't you Major?" Asked Archer

"Yes sir, I suppose I have… This ship has a lot to offer to the Empire." He said

"Indeed it does… But how will this take care of our problems?" he asked

"Well sir, there are ten missiles here; I suggest that we enter hyperspace and plot a course to each of the rebel species home worlds and launch a couple of these missiles to the surface. Andoria, Tellar Prime, and Vulcan… After the destruction that will occur, the rebels will have no choice but to surrender. The death tolls will be in the hundreds of millions on every planet, perhaps even billions, and if they ever tried to rebel against the Empire again, we would simply finish the job we started by using the rest of them." Reed said with pride

"I have to admit, I like this idea… You're right, examples have to be made; however, we must leave Vulcan untouched. We need the Vulcan home world unscathed for the Naquadah deposits underneath its surface. If we destroy Vulcan then we will lose our only chance of mining the Naquadah." Archer explained

"I hadn't thought of that." said Reed

"No matter, but we will be able to execute the plan on the other two planets. If they choose not to surrender, then we will simply make half of their population extinct." Archer smiled

"Yes sir."Reed stated

"And after we have displayed our absolute power of life and death, we will force Starfleet to surrender to us as well. Those spineless, cowards who dare call themselves admirals will either comply, or they will die just as easily as everyone else." Archer said

"And the Emperor, Sir?" Reed question

"The Emperor… He is another story… Let's just say that he won't have a choice in the matter." He said grimly.

"Yes sir…" Said Reed as he contemplated about the words Archer chose to use when he mentioned the Emperor. The Erickson Dynasty has lasted for more than two-thirds of a century on Earth. In fact, Emperor Emory Erickson II is the only Emperor to have inherited the throne from his father, Emperor Emory Erickson I, while all of the other Emperors have ascended to the throne through cunning, guile, and courage; if Archer was thinking about overthrowing the Emperor, then Reed will have a very big and dangerous decision to make… If he wanted to live a long a healthy life that is…

* * *

><p>Archer sat in his command chair on the bridge of the Daedalus, the Heads-Up-Display showing and image of their next plotted course for the Andorian home world approximately 136.74 light years from their current location. Andoria was a strange world, because it wasn't even actually a planet. It was a moon orbiting around a ringed gas giant. The surface was a frozen wasteland where almost the entire population was settled in cities underneath the ice to take advantage of the geothermal activity below the surface of the crust of the planet. Since the relative position of Andoria was close to both the Vulcan and the Terran systems, it was decided that it would be the first planet to be 'cleansed.' It would then be easier to convince all the other parties involved to submit to his will.<p>

"Salvage operation is complete sir, all of the supplies from the Avenger have been catalogued and stored." T'Pol stated as she entered the bridge and taking her station.

"Good, helm plot a course for the Andorian homeworld." Said Archer

"Aye sir." Mayweather replied. "At maximum speed we should arrive in just over fifteen seconds."

"Excellent, it's about time we got rid of this problem. The Andorians keep saying that they don't have anything to do with this rebellion and yet they have done nothing to stop their people from taking part in it. It's about time we teach them the price for betrayal against the Empire." He smiled. "Major, is the Horizon platform ready?"

"Yes sir, we have two of the missiles armed and ready for deployment." Reed grinned; he couldn't wait to see for himself the awesome power of these weapons personally.

"Good, engage the hyperdrive." Archer ordered

Mayweather engaged the hyperdrive and the Daedalus dove into the hyperspace window in a brilliant splash of radiating blue and violet light. As before, the crew couldn't help but feel a sense of awe as they flew through the hyperspace conduit. Such a magnificent sight gave Archer a sensation of God-hood, because only gods could travel at such speeds through the universe, and he was in command of the chariot that would carry him through this universe. He couldn't help but feel that soon, the entire galaxy will bow down at his feet at the power he will yield. As he began to dive deeper into his fantasies of his future destiny, the Daedalus jumped back into normal space. A black field of stars back-splashed a scene of a beautiful blue-green ringed, gas giant, and orbiting this gas giant was a moon. A moon with a breathable atmosphere, as cold as that atmosphere may have been, it was habitable. The Andorian homeworld…

"Maintain a standard orbit." Said Archer

"Yes sir." Said Mayweather.

"We are being hailed from the Andorians." Said Hoshi

"Put it through on the HUD." Said Archer

Suddenly an image of an Andorian appeared on the main observation window, overlapping the view of the world below them. An older Andorian male who was obviously flummoxed by their sudden appearance, began to rant. "This is Thoris of the Terran Empire's Andorian Guard, identify yourselves and state your purpose in Imperial space!" he stated.

"This is Captain Archer of the Daedalus, and I would highly suggest that you watch your tone when speaking with me." He threatened

"My-my apologies Captain Archer, Starfleet did not inform me of your arrival, and your ship is of a different design than what I've seen before." Said Thoris

"It doesn't matter does it, I'm not here for pleasantries; quite the opposite actually; I'm here for your surrender." Archer smirked.

"What? This can't be!" exclaimed Thoris.

"Well, maybe you're right… Andoria has already surrendered to the Empire once before hasn't it?" Archer smiled. "I guess it would be redundant to have it surrender again, so allow me to make myself clearer. I am here for your admission of guilt for your people's illegal actions in taking part in this rebellion against the Empire, and upon your confession, the eradication of your planet will commence as punishment. I would estimate about half of your world's population will die."

"You can't do this!" hollered Thoris.

"I am doing this." Said Archer

"But Andoria is not a part of the rebellion! We have not done anything wrong!" Thoris pleaded with Archer.

"Andoria has failed to curtail its people from rebelling, therefore, it is your fault and now you must pay for your crimes." Said Archer

"By who's order? Did the Emperor tell you to do this!" Thoris yelled.

"The Emperor has nothing to do with this, besides he is a fool and would actually believe your pitiful story of non-involvement. Therefore, I have taken it upon myself to do what must be done. Andoria will be made as an example to the rest of the galaxy." Archer grinned

"No! I won't let you do this, Andoria has been loyal to the Empire and I will not allow you to set one foot on our world." Said Thoris

"Oh I don't plan on setting any of my feet on your world, too cold for my taste. But I will send a couple of my missiles and make an example of your world for all the rebels to see… Resistance if futile…" Archer spoke darkly.

"No! I'll blow you out of the sky first!" Thoris screamed and the HUD image blinked out.

"Well that went better than expected." Reed commented

"Oh, how so?" asked Archer

"Well frankly sir, I was half expecting him to curl into the fetal position and cry or something." Said Reed.

Archer laughed at the comment; the sight of an Andorian breaking into tears would be a comical scene. "That would be pretty amusing."

"Captain, seven Andorian battle ships on an attack vector towards our current position." Stated T'Pol

"This shouldn't last very long… Raise the shields and prepare main weapons. Major, prepare to beam the missiles on to the planet's surface, make sure to place them in the most populated areas." Said Archer

"Yes sir." Reed replied.

"Andorian ships are within weapons range." Stated Mayweather.

"Target them and fire." Archer ordered.

"Aye sir." Major Reed said with glee, and targeted the Andorian ships. Within moments, long before the enemy vessels were within their own weapons range of the Daedalus, it fired two intense beams of plasma energy and collided with the Andorian shields. Punching through the shields like tissue paper, the battle ships' hulls were punctured, setting off chain reactions throughout both ships causing explosions to occur all over. One beam incinerated the hull armor over the main engineering section and destroyed the warp core, which in turn caused the ship to explode in a blazing fire, while the other Andorian ship literally exploded in half.

"Two targets destroyed sir." Reed said as a faint thumping sound reverberated throughout the bridge.

"Enemy vessels have opened fire with a salvo of photon torpedoes… No damage to shields." Said Mayweather.

Archer couldn't help but to be amused by their pointless efforts to obliterate his ship. They just simply didn't know what they had gotten themselves into. Brave and foolish souls, but in the end, doomed…

* * *

><p>The warship Kumari, named after the very first ice-cutter to circumnavigate Andoria, was commanded by Thy'lek Shran. Promoted to the rank of Commander in the Andorian Guard in the service of the Terran Empire, he was highly skilled as a commander. He never liked the fact that his people were subjugated by the Terrans, but he had a duty to serve and protect his people, and if that meant he had to serve the Empire in order to ensure their survival, then so be it. The same also goes if it meant to destroy, what was apparently a newly designed, Terran Imperial warship.<p>

"Commander the Tholi'os and the Ka'mar have been destroyed! Photon torpedoes have had no effect their shields!" shouted the helmsman.

"Order the fleet to execute attack pattern Gamma and contact headquarters, we need reinforcements." Said Shran

"Yes sir." Said the helmsman.

As the Kumari and the other four remaining warships merged on the Daedalus, they release a hailstorm of photon torpedoes in conjunction with particle cannon fire, hitting the shields of the human battle cruiser squarely on. Only to have their hopes of damaging the ship dashed as sensors readings came back stating that no apparent damage had taken place. What was even more insulting was that the human battle cruiser made no obvious efforts to avoid the weapons fire, like it was daring the assault fleet to attack it.

"No effect sir, their shields are just too powerful!" said the helmsman.

"Keep firing, we can't afford to stop! If we do then they'll destroy Andoria and we can't let that happen." Said Shran

* * *

><p>Bright blue and green flashes rippled over the Asgard shielding of the Daedalus, followed by faint thumping sounds, the ferocity of the Andorians attack amounted up to next to nothing when battling the Tauri constructed battle cruiser.<p>

"The Andorians are firing particle weapons and photon torpedoes… Still no damage." Reed smirked.

"It appears that they are receiving reinforcements, another nine ships are on an intercept course." Stated T'Pol

"As entertaining as this is, we might as well get it over with. Major Reed, wipe them out of my sky, if you please." He smiled

"Yes sir." Reed perked up with the order to destroy the enemy fleet.

Firing the Daedalus's main weapons at the Andorians, four bright blue beams of plasma fire struck their targets with pinpoint accuracy. Three of the Andorian vessels were destroyed immediately while the fourth, the Kumari, attempted to dodge the plasma beam, but to no avail. The beam still punched through their shields and sheared off the port warp wing right off from the main body of the vessel, causing massive secondary explosions throughout the ship.

The Kumari rocked as fire and smoke filled the ship, on the bridge, the command crew was thrown off their feet as the vessel began to spin out of control. Shran was sent flying from his command chair and over the helm control, nearly crashing into the view screen. Bulkhead pylons lay crumpled on the deck and control panels flickered with expiring power. Blue blood gushed from his forehead and one of his antennae was severed from his cranium. Losing his balance as he tried to stand, his vision had become cloudy, but his sense of his environment was still there. The Kumari was dying and he needed to get his crew off the ship before its final death roll.

"This is Commander Shran, abandon ship! I repeat abandon ship! All hands to emergency escape pods!" He shouted at the top of his lungs, hoping that the internal communication systems were still operational enough to relay the message ship wide.

"That means you too Commander, let's go!" Shouted a tall female Andorian, as she grabbed him by the arm and lifted him off the floor.

"Talas, what are you doing?" said Shran

"Trying to save your life, now come on! We have to go; the ship won't survive much longer!" Talas screamed as the power conduits above her head exploded in a rain of golden sparks.

"I can't, this is the Kumari, one of the last original ships of the Andorian Imperial Guard before the Terran Empire conquered our world. I can't just let it go." Shran said, his emotions getting the better of him.

"We don't have a choice, if don't go then we'll die along with her, and all of this would have been for nothing! We have to go, hurry!" Talas shouted as she dragged her weakened Commander alongside her.

She knew what he was feeling; the Kumari was one of only a handful of ships that survived the war with the Terran Empire intact. The humans allowed the ship to remain in active service, however, only in the service of the Terran Empire as part of the Andorian Guard, which was placed to guard this region of Terran space. However, if the Kumari is to finally die, then it will die with honor in combating its enemies to protect Andoria… As it was always meant to…

Escape pods launched away from the Kumari as it spun closer to the upper atmosphere of Andoria, pieces of hull ripped away from the super structure of the ship and glowed orange as it burned up upon re-entry. The Kumari itself began to glow red as the duranium alloy of the armor started to overheat due to the friction of the atmosphere, and a white-hot tail of gas and vaporized metallic particles trailed behind it. Soon the entire ship was enveloped in a pulsating mist, forming from red hot to white hot. The hull meting away and the insides of the ship rippling and pulsing as the heat set ablaze the last remaining heart of the ship. The warp reactor of the Kumari, while protected by thick armor and redundant systems, could no longer keep the overwhelming heat from inferno away any longer, and gave in to the inevitable…

As Talas and Shran peered out of the porthole of their escape pod, they could clearly see the death trail of their once mighty, and proud ship, and in the end they also saw the fireball that encompassed it as the reactor exploded. The red-orange blaze of fire and debris in orbit around Andoria signified the death of a mighty warship, which was once the first of her line… The Kumari…

Back on the Daedalus Archer and his crew were in cheers as they watched the light show over the ice blue planet. "I have to admit, this was more fun than I thought it would be." He said.

"Indeed it is sir… Sensors reports that nine more Andorian ships have entered weapons range." Said Reed

"Well Major, shall we continue the fun?" he said

"Of course sir." Said Reed

"Good, let's destroy them and get to the grand finale." Said Archer.

Through the port window, Shran and Talas could do nothing except to watch helplessly as the Daedalus swam through the reinforcements like a shark though guppies. One after one the Andorian warships exploded in a blaze of fire as the Daedalus fired its lethal weapons. There was no hope left…

"The last ship is destroyed sir." Said Reed

"Good, beam down the missiles and let the fireworks begin." Said Archer

"Yes sir." Reed chuckled and two of the Horizon missiles to the surface and within seconds they detonated.

Two golden-orange plumes of hellfire flowered over the landmasses of the northern and western ice continents of Andoria. Like two giant, cancerous tumors, they grew in size rapidly, sending out shockwaves of thermonuclear fire and radiation across the globe. Cascading and rippling waves colliding with each other and vaporizing the surface, melting away the ice into oceans of boiling water, turning into clouds of steams, burning away in the atmosphere.

Talas and Shran wept as they witnessed their homeworld burn and crack under the horrifying power of the Terrans' new weapons. The thermonuclear clouds alone rose above the lower atmosphere and spread across nearly one third of the planet. They were both watching the deaths of hundreds of millions, possibly billions before their very eyes from high orbit, and were unable to stop it from happening; they were completely and utterly helpless…

"Beautiful work Major, just beautiful." Archer smiled as he looked upon Andoria as it burned alive.

"Thank you sir." Reed gloated

"Sensors indicate the tectonic plates along the northern and western continents are fracturing under the stress, computers estimate approximately 438 million inhabitants have died in the initial explosions and another 752 million will die in the radiation and fallout that will undoubtedly occur with the hour; plus another 236 million in the weeks to come afterwards." T'Pol stated disgustingly.

Such a disturbingly high number of deaths in a single attack were an absolute carnage, only humans could be proud of such atrocities. The massacre of over 1.4 billion people was near genocide… She did everything that she possibly could, as a Vulcan to hide her emotions from her crew, the last thing she wanted was to break down and lose all emotional control at a time like this in front of Humans. Such and emotional display of grief and terror would not sit well at all, as they would most likely place her in the brig out of spite.

"Helm; plot a course for our next destination." Archer said as he leaned back comfortably in his chair.

"Yes sir, setting a course for Tellar Prime." Said Mayweather.

"Engage Hyperdrive." Archer ordered, and the Daedalus flew into a hyperspace window, leaving behind only a fading cloud of blue and lavender mist of glowing light.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> In the SGA Universe, the Horizon only had six missiles that were armed and four decoys. However, I decided to make this Horizon into one where all ten missiles were armed with no decoys, and seeing as how this Daedalus is from yet another reality from the Prime SGA universe, then why not? I also wanted to introduce Shran and Talas and show their dedication towards protecting their homeworld, and how they felt when they saw it destroyed.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

It was only moments since their 'cleansing' of Andoria, and now the Daedalus was on its way to the Tellarite homeworld of Tellar Prime. The crew was still high from their most recent victory and couldn't wait for another 'hit'… Most of the crew anyway… Tellar Prime wasn't too much different from Earth. A Class M world with oceans and land mass continents that sprawled with lush vegetation, and a single moon in orbit, however that was where the similarities ended. The local inhabitants of this planet, the Tellarites, were a short, hairy, stocky breed with large snouts; very much like the farm pigs on Earth. Dirty and ugly animals that people only have around just to kill later on for food in their pathetic, and short lived, lives.

It was sad in a way actually, Archer mused to himself, he rather liked pork and it was an insult to all the pigs on Earth to compare them to Tellarites. Pigs were much higher up the evolutionary ladder than Tellarites were; at least that was the general consensus for most Humans.

"You know the drill, Sgt Mayweather, standard orbit." Archer said as the Daedalus jumped out of hyperspace.

"Aye sir." He smiled

"Major Reed, let's see if we can make this one last just a little longer. What do you say?" said Archer

"Six minutes instead of five, sir." Reed joked as most of the bridge staff laughed along.

"Yeah, let's go for that." Said Archer

"We're being hailed from the surface sir." Said Hoshi

"Déjà vu." Archer grinned. "Put it up on the HUD."

An image appeared on the observation window of a snarly-looking Tellarite male. Big, thick beard, beady little eyes, wrinkled brown skin, and a large snout; typical of the species. "I am Graal of the Terran Empire's Tellarite Defense Force, identify yourselves and state your purpose for intruding in Imperial space or you will be fired upon!" Graal warned.

Déjà vu indeed, Archer thought. "I am Captain Archer of the Daedalus. I would think twice if I were you before firing upon my ship."

"Captain Archer, p-please forgive my abruptness. We were not informed of your visit to Tellar Prime, and we were also not aware of your new ship either; my apologies." Graal stated.

Archer smirked, "Apologies accepted Graal, but I should inform you that I'm here on some rather urgent business, and I'm actually in a bit of a hurry to return to Earth as soon as possible."

"Of course Captain, how may we be of assistance to you?" Said Graal

"Simple, you can confess to your crimes against the Empire and accept your punishment." Archer smiled.

"I-I beg your pardon?" Graal was stunned.

"Do I really have to repeat myself?" Archer asked

"Confess to what? We have committed no crimes against the Empire." Said Graal

"Now we both know that's a lie, you have allowed your people to take part in this illegal rebellion against the Empire." Said Archer.

"We have not! We've condemned the rebellion and all who participate in it!" said Graal.

"Well that's not completely true otherwise Tellarites wouldn't be a part of it." Said Archer

"We're not a part of it; those of our people who are taking part in it are criminals. Most of us are honest, hard working people who live to serve the Empire." Graal stated

"Let's not drag this out anymore than it has to Graal; it's simple. Confess to the crimes of your people and I'll only kill off half of your world's population." He smiled

"What! This is outrageous! By whose authority do you have to come to Tellar Prime and make such threats?" Graal shouted, both out of anger and fear. "Naarg get me Starfleet command, get me the Emperor now!" He yelled to his aide.

"Oh, calling them won't help you." Archer stated

"And why is that!" Graal yelled

"Because, in all honestly we're not under any particular orders from Starfleet to come and 'visit' your little world shall we say." He said

"What?" Graal was shocked. "You're not… You're a rogue… A has-been, washed-out officer with his own ship making threats to intimidate planets that are loyal to the Empire! You're a no-good, dirty pirate!" Graal shouted

Archer didn't particularly like the comment, "You're quite bold for an ugly pig, and just for that I think I'll kill two-thirds of your population instead." He threatened

"Wrong Archer, we'll be the ones that'll be doing the killings today, and I'm sure that Starfleet will be very appreciative to us for getting rid of an annoyance like you." Graal said and immediately the HUD screen disappeared.

"Filthy swine, he truly doesn't know who he's dealing with." Archer said

"Captain, sensors indicate six Tellarite warcruisers on an intercept course." T'Pol said

"Six, that's all? This will be quick." Said Reed

"Overconfidence will be their undoing; it'll be like shooting fish in a barrel." Archer said. "Major Reed, take them out."

"Yes, sir." Reed smiled

As the Tellarite warcruisers came into the Daedalus's weapons range, they were fired upon by four blue beams of certain death. Three of the four exploded into intense ball of red-orange balls of fire, the fourth was split in half, each half of the ship spinning out of control, burning in space. The two remaining ships, firing off a full salvo of photon torpedoes along with particle cannon fire, signaled for reinforcements. A lot of them…

"Captain, sensors are reading additional Tellarites ships on an intercept course." Said T'Pol

"How many?" he asked

"Fourteen…" T'Pol said with some trepidation.

"Fourteen, well now that might be a little fun." Reed smiled

"I agree, let's have fun, and ready the missiles for beam down." Archer said

"Aye sir." Said Reed

The two Tellarite warcruisers that survived the first attack from the Daedalus fell back and regrouped with their reinforcements. With a total of sixteen ships, the lead warcruiser of the reinforcement group, the Tezra, took charge of the fleet.

"This is Captain Skalaar to the human vessel, surrender now or be destroyed." Skalaar hailed to the Daedalus.

Back on the Daedalus, Archer scoffed at the pitiful threat made by the Tellarite. "Is he serious?"

"I believe he is, sir." Said Hoshi. "He's repeating the hail."

"Open a channel." Said Archer

"Channel is open, sir." Hoshi replied after punching a few commands into her console.

"This is Captain Archer of the Daedalus; I'm going to make this as simple as I possibly can so you walking pieces of hairy bacon can understand… Don't make me laugh." Archer answered and signaled for the channel to be closed.

Back on the Tezra however, the message did not go over very well with Skalaar, or for the rest of the bridge crew who heard Archer's response. "That racist, human piece of trash, I'm going to make him wish he was never born! Hail the assault fleet!" he ordered.

"Channel is open Captain." Replied the communications officer.

"This is Skalaar of the Tezra to the assault fleet, Alpha and Delta wings are to split off and engage the flanks while the Gamma wing is to circle around to the rear of the enemy vessel. The Tezra along with Beta wing will engage the ship head on. I want this damn human vessel trapped on all sides. We can't afford to let them murder not a single one of our citizens on Tellar Prime. I don't know what kind of new weapons they have, but they're awfully confident that they have the firepower to lay waste to our planet. Let's show them that they've just pissed off the wrong people!" Skalaar hailed to the fleet. Within a moment's notice, the fleet began to engage the Daedalus with the attack pattern ordered by Skalaar. "All ships fire a continuous spread of photon torpedoes and particle cannons. Do not relent under any circumstance! No matter what happens, keep firing!"

"It would appear that the Tellarite ships are attempting to surround us and block us in." T'Pol stated as she read her sensor readout.

"Really…" Archer said sarcastically. "Well that's not going to happen, Sgt Mayweather shall we show them why."

"Of course sir, I'll be most happy to do so." He smiled as he plotted a course behind the Tellarite fleet.

A hyperspace window was generated just beyond the bow of the ship and it dove into it with a splash and instantly jumped back out behind the Tezra and his wing of warcruisers. Immediately, the Daedalus shot a volley of plasma fire, destroying four of the five ships that were with the Tezra. A hail of confusion soared throughout the Tellarite fleet as they witnessed the human ship vanish in a shimmering blue light to suddenly reappear behind their ships. Alpha, Gamma and Delta wings regrouped and flew at maximum speed to intercept the Daedalus. On board the Tezra however, the bridge crew were horrified to what they just saw.

"What the hell just happened? How did they do that?" Shouted Skalaar

"I don't know sir, they just appeared behind us, with no sign of ever having entered warp!" yelled Gaarvin, both his younger brother and first officer.

Skalaar and Gaarvin have served together ever since the Terran Empire conquered their homeworld nearly four decades ago. They had always dreamed of owning their own starship and soaring across the quadrant following no one else's rule except their own. However childhood dreams always tend to die when you grow up and have to deal with the real world you're living in, and in their world, the Terran Empire controlled their planet. No one was allowed to own a private starship without the direct approval of the Empire, and in effect, no one could own a ship unless they were human. So Skalaar and Gaarvin were left with very little choices in life, the best opportunity they had was either to join the Imperial Starfleet and serve the Terran Empire, or volunteer for planetary service for Tellar Prime. They would be able to serve aboard a Tellarite ship, without having to answer to Starfleet officers, but they would be forever restricted to the Tellarite home system as a planetary guard in joint service to the Empire, without actually joining their Starfleet. The choice was obvious for the two brothers, join the planetary home guard. Even though they would never realize their dreams of exploring space, at least they would be serving their own people and not the humans. They never thought however, that they would ever be engaging a human ship in battle, even as tensions between the Empire and Tellar Prime grew due to the rebellion.

"Aft torpedoes and particle cannons fire full spread, and then come about!" Skalaar ordered

Blazing balls of orange light shot back at the Daedalus along with a beam of particle fire as the Tezra desperately attempted to get away from the ship's weapons range. The Tellarite attack impacted the shields with very little result, other than its being absorbed. As the Tezra made a run for it, the other eleven warcruisers made a run at the Terran vessel. Orange beams of particle fire strafed the shields in a dazzling display of light, only to be met with both plasma and railgun fire. The blue beams of plasma incinerated four of the warcruisers while the intensity of the railguns heavily damaged the shields of the other vessels. A few of their shields had failed and took direct fire on their hulls. The kinetic impact of the rounds punched through the outer armor and causing massive internal damage, a few of the ships exploded as the rounds penetrated the warp reactors causing a massive, uncontrolled matter/anti-matter reaction. The warp core breaches were directly responsible for three of the warcruisers demises as they exploded with immense power only a few kilometers away from the Daedalus. The subspace shockwave of the explosions barely rocked the Tuari vessel as the Asgard shielding were far superior and more advanced than anything else in the known galaxy. Barely one percent of the shield's energy was drained. The crew of the Daedalus could do nothing but smile and cheer as they saw another victory for both themselves and the Empire cresting over the horizon.

* * *

><p>However, not all of the Daedalus's crew were happy, far from it actually, there were some that were enraged and heartbroken over the transpiring events; namely speaking, the non-human members of the crew. Needless to say, some of them had other ideas of how this battle was going to end. Terev, a Tellarite crewman originally from the Enterprise was frantic and desperate. He couldn't let this ship destroy his homeworld like it destroyed Andoria. The levels of devastation that two of those missiles had caused were beyond his imagining. He had never thought that just two missiles would annihilate nearly half of the planet's inhabited population. Now Archer and his Terran crew were about to do the same to Tellar Prime itself… He couldn't let that happen, even if it costs him his life… He had to stop them…<p>

While the battle was ensuing, he was slowly and cautiously making his way towards engineering. It would be nearly impossible to sabotage engineering with all the Terran personnel working there and including the MACO's guarding the entryway, but he had to try. Peeking around the corner of the corridor, he saw two MACO sentries posted at the entrance to main engineering. Quietly he pulled out his phase pistol from its holster and was about to make a rush for it… Perhaps he might get lucky and kill them both and would be able to take the engineering crew by surprise, he hoped anyway. Just as he was about to launch himself into the hands of certain death, he was pulled back by several pairs of hands and slammed against the wall. His mouth was covered by Tholos, the Andorian helmsman that served aboard the Avenger, as he was held back by both him and Devna; the female Andorian bridge officer that also served aboard the Avenger.

"What the hell do you think you are doing?" Tholos whispered as he slowly removed his hand from Terev's mouth.

"I'm going to stop them, this is genocide, I can't let them destroy my planet. Billions of people are down there." He tried with all his will power not to scream and let his emotions take over at the moment. This was an extremely dangerous situation he was in. Strangely though, as he looked passed Tholos and Devna, he saw nearly a dozen other aliens behind them… The slaves they had captured and locked away were now free… "How?"

"I used my 'feminine wiles' as the Terrans would say. It's not that hard for us Orion females to affect the minds of males of almost any species if we really wanted too. I simply 'charmed' the MACO guard and released the slaves after I stabbed him in his throat so he couldn't scream for help and relieved him of his pulse rifle." Devna smirked

"Vicious…" Terev commented

"These aren't exactly peaceful times we're living in. I know what you're going through, I just saw my planet turn into molten rock by the weapons on board this ship, and over a billion of my people were wiped out, my family…" Tholos stopped himself from saying anymore, the tears streamed down his face and a stone formed in his throat. The pain of knowing that his family was now dead was too much for him. They had lived in the northern cities of Andoria when it was destroyed by Archer.

"It's okay Tholos, we know what you're feeling and trust me, and we will stop this ship from killing anyone else." Devna placed her hand on his shoulder attempting to comfort him.

"I know… It's just…" Tholos sobbed, but eventually pulled himself back together. "No… Not now… There will be time to mourn later, but right now, we have a mission to accomplish. We need to take over engineering and take control of the rest of the ship's systems from there. If we can't then we must destroy it and cripple this ship."

"Are you with us Terev?" Devna asked

"Do you really have to ask that question, they're about to obliterate my homeworld, of course I'm with you. I have to say I like the odds better with all of us than when it was just myself down here." He said

"So do I, but first we're going to need a few more weapons on our side." Devna smiled and slowly made herself passed Terev and peeked around the corner. "Just two? This will be easy." She commented and flashed an evil grin back at Tholos and Terev. "Just get ready you two."

Tholos signaled the rest of the freed alien slaves to stay close to the bulkhead and to duck down low as Terev put his pistol away. Devna emerged from around the corner and stared at the MACO guards seductively. Surprised by her sudden appearance the two MACO raised their rifles, but then began to slowly lower them at the vision of lust before them. Pouring on the pheromones that her species was easily capable of doing, she arched her back and slowly began to unzip her uniform. Nervously looking back at each other and then into Engineering, the MACO's were eager, but were still too anxious to leave their posts for fear of any repercussions that may happen should they be caught deserting. But as they looked at each other, and then back into Main Engineering, Commander Tucker and his staff were currently busy with their duties. The risk could well be worth the rewards. Glancing back at the Orion female, she had her top completely unzipped now, her bare breasts exposed as she caressed them ever so gently, wetting her lips with her tongue and quietly stepping back around the corner with the promise of divine pleasure in her eyes.

"Come on boys, I'm waiting." She said seductively.

Taking one final glance into Main Engineering, the engineering crew was still an unaware of the scene unfolding just outside in the corridor. Quietly stepping away from their posts, the two MACO's eagerly made their way down the hall and around the corner; however instead of coming face-to-face with an emerald skinned angel of sexual pleasure, they instead came face-to-face with an angry blue-skinned Andorian and a brown skinned, and heavy bearded Tellarite along with about another dozen aliens. The MACO's were instantly snatched into the corridor by the aliens, where they were easily subdued and their pulse rifles taken away. Tholos grabbed one of the MACO guards by his mouth and the back of his head and with all of his might, he twisted and snapped the human's neck, while Terev took the dagger from the other MACO's own sheath and sliced his throat wide open. Blood gushing forth like a fountain onto the deck.

As Devna zipped up her uniform top, she couldn't help but smirk at the drool filled, gaping mouths and dreamy eyed stares from her male companions. "You if you boys are good, I might let you have a little peek later on."

"Really?" Replied a rather chubby, male Bolian as he slung the dead MACO's pulse rifle around his neck.

"Later, first we have to take over engineering and survive." Tholos said, instantly chopping down the Bolian's hopes of another live strip show.

"You're right, sorry." The Bolian apologized

"No need to apologize my comrade-in-arms, needless to say we were all a bit, um, distracted by her, uh, talents." Tholos stuttered as Devna flashed him a smile.

"Right then, so, what's the plan now that we've taken out their sentries?" Asked Terev.

"Those of us with weapons will rush the entrance, firing at anyone we see. While we do that, those ones without a weapon will attempt to override the bridge's command protocols and reroute main systems control down here." Said Devna

"Right, and the two of you," Tholos said as he pointed to the Bolian and another blue skinned alien with massive bruises to his face, which looked to be about a day old. "You will be guarding the entrance from the interior, shoot any Starfleet or MACO you see on sight, and make sure you shoot to kill. We can't let them retake engineering or we're all dead."

"I understand." Said the Bolian

"As do I, trust me, I'm looking forward to some revenge for what they did to me." Said the other blue alien.

"One question though… Why are you doing this? You're not exactly a slave and the Orions aren't apart of this rebellion, you don't have to worry about the humans bombing your world… So why?" The Bolian asked Devna.

"Do you really have to ask? The humans have already conquered my world and subjugated my people, and even though my people chose not to take part in the rebellion, I know what will happen if the Empire is allowed to continue with what they're doing. The Terrans have just been handed the technology to conquer the entire galaxy, and they will if they get the chance. We have to stop them no matter what. I don't know about you, but I don't want to serve the Empire for the rest of my life nor do I want my people to remain oppressed under their boot heels for the rest of eternity either. Don't you want freedom for your own people?" Devna stated

"Of course I do." Said the Bolian

"Then we're all in agreement then?" Asked Devna and received head nods from all of them.

"Good, because if we do this, there is a high probability that some of us, if not all of us, will not make it out alive." Said Tholos

"I don't care, Archer and the rest of the humans are about to devastate my homeworld, I don't give a damn I die, just as long as I can save my people that's all that matters to me." Terev stated with conviction.

"I wish I had that much courage when this ship was attacking my world, I might have been able to save it." Tholos said with regret.

"We can't change what has already happened, we can only mourn those we lost, learn from it and move on. Our two species haven't exactly had a friendly relationship in the past, but at least we, the two of us, can come together now when it matters the most." Terev said and extended his hand.

Tholos looked down, and took Terev's hand in his own and gave a firm shake as a gesture of friendship. It was probably the last act of goodwill he would ever perform. "Indeed."

"Okay then you blue-skinned freak," Terev smiled. "Let's do this." And immediately everyone jumped into action.

* * *

><p>"Status report!" Shouted Skalaar as sparks flew from the power conduits on board the bridge of the Tezra.<p>

"The warp core explosions have knocked out our shields! We've lost warp drive and artificial gravity on decks six through eight." Yelled Gaarvin

"Did any of our other ships survive?" said Skalaar

"Just one sir, the Narev. But she's in really bad shape. Sensors show that she's sustained multiple hull breaches and is venting atmosphere. She's lost artificial gravity on all decks and both of her offensive and defensive systems are down, as well as her engines. We're reading massive casualties… They're dead in the water." Said Gaarvin.

"Damn those humans!" shouted Skalaar in anger

"The humans have survived the explosion with no damage. What the hell is that damn ship made out of?" Said Gaarvin.

"It doesn't matter, we have to stop them." Skalaar stated

"We've lost almost our entire defense fleet, we have no shields and no warp capability, how are we supposed to stop them?" Gaarvin asked

"Prepare the ship for ramming speed." Skalaar said solemnly.

"Ramming speed…"Gaarvin said to himself.

He knew what his brother was thinking; that there was no hope of defeating the Terran ship by force of arms, no matter how many ships you had. A fact which was just horribly proven, but perhaps there may be a way to at least cripple the ship from causing more harm by sacrificing the Tezra in one last desperate effort to save Tellar Prime. It may not work, but it was the last option they had left to them, there was no other choice.

"It has been an honor serving with you my brother." Said Gaarvin

"With you as well…" said Skalaar. "Now go on and give the engines one last final push you good for nothing Andorian worm rat." He grinned

"Will do, you fat, bloated, foul smelling Klingon targ." Gaarvin smiled and took the helm.

* * *

><p>"Sir, it appears that one of the last Tellarite ships is preparing to ram the Daedalus." Said Mayweather<p>

"Is that so?" Archer snickered wickedly. "Do they really think that it'll do any good?"

"Apparently so sir, they're powering their engines and have plotted a collision course." Said Mayweather.

"Well then I guess we'll just have to deny them of their suicide and kill them first." He laughed. "Major, will you do me a favor and blow them to atoms for me."

"Of course, it'll be my pleasure." Reed smiled. However before he was able to do so, the lights on the bridge began to flicker wildly and some of the command consoles lost power, suddenly there was a brilliant sheen of light that seemed to surround the ship and then disappear.

"What the hell is going on!" Archer shouted

"We've lost power to half of the systems on board and the shields are down, along with navigation." T'Pol said from her station, who had a look of worry in her eyes, for a Vulcan anyways. As much as she detested what Archer and the crew were planning to do to the inhabitants of Tellar Prime, she did not wish to die either. On the contrary, she wanted to live as much as anyone else on board this ship.

"Captain I'm getting an emergency distress call… It's from engineering sir! It's Commander Tucker!" exclaimed Hoshi

"Put him though!" Archer demanded. Static filled the air as Tucker's voiced hissed in and out over the intercom speakers.

"We're… Aliens… Are firing… Damage… Need help… Can't…" Tucker's voice sputtered in and out, and then suddenly cut out.

"Sir I'm reading weapons fire from main engineering, they're under attack." Said Reed

"And from the sounds of it, it would appear that the alien slaves we captured; and probably even the alien members of the crew have revolted and declared mutiny on board my ship! T'Pol what about the transporters are they functional?" said Archer

"The transporter systems are offline as well." Said T'Pol

"Damn! Major take your men to engineering and get our systems back up! We need those shields!" Archer ordered

"Yes sir!" replied Reed as he, Mayweather and about half a dozen MACO's went with him to retake engineering.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> In this one I wanted to show the arrogance of the Terrans by showing that they though they couldn't be touched by anyone, until their own slaves rebelled and started a revolt on the Daedalus, which left them pretty much at the Mercy of the Tellarites at the end.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven**

In orbit of a blue-green world called Tellar Prime, the Angel of Death hovered above having decimated the defenses of the planet's inhabitants. The Daedalus, a human constructed ship of war from another universe, was about to lay the deathblow to the final remaining ship of the Tellarite Defense Force; that was until something unexpected happened.

"Their shields are down!" shouted Gaarvin

"What!" said Skalaar

"Their shields just went down, their weapons are inoperative and their engines are offline!" he answered.

"What happened, was it another ship?" he asked

"No, their systems just went offline just now." Said Gaarvin

"Well we can't let this opportunity go to waste, do we have any weapons?" said Skalaar

"Torpedo launchers are down and our torpedoes have been exhausted, but we do have particle cannons!" he answered

"Then that's what we have to deal with, plot an intercept course and fire on that ship with whatever we have!" Skalaar shouted

"Yes sir!" Gaarvin smiled and plotted a course to fire back.

The Tezra swooped down like a hawk from above and fired orange beams of particle fire onto the Daedalus's exposed hull. The Trinium-Naquadah alloy, now unprotected by its Asgard shielding, was still able to resist the power of the Tellarite energy weapons. Though far stronger than the Duranium-Tritanium composite alloy of the standard Starfleet warship, it did not mean that the hull was indestructible. The impact of the Tellarite particle cannons left scorch marks upon the hull plating and rocked the ship under its power.

"Damn it, do we have anything that works!" Archer demanded to know.

"Our plasma beam weapons and railgun turrets are inoperative, as are our sublight engines, but we do have maneuvering thrusters." Said T'Pol as the Daedalus shook again under the Tezra's onslaught.

"What about our VLS missiles!" he asked

T'Pol could only shake her head 'no' as the ship was rocked again from the attacking Tellarites. "I suggest that we make use of our thruster and engage evasive maneuvers." Said T'Pol

"Do it!" said Archer and the crewman, who had replaced Mayweather at the helm, acknowledged and attempted to employ some basic evasive maneuvers the best he could, although with some little success as the only engines they had available were maneuvering thrusters.

"T'Pol I want you to attempt to reroute tactical control back to the bridge, we need our weapons and shields back online before we're pulverized." Archer ordered as he took the tactical station.

"Aye, sir!" said T'Pol as she was nearly knocked off her feet by another particle blast.

"Hoshi I need you to jam their communication frequencies, I don't want any more ships heading our way!" he said

"Yes sir, jamming the Tellarites signals now!" said Hoshi as the ship was rocked once again.

* * *

><p>The Daedalus dove downward towards the planet as a particle beam soared passed its bow and then arched back up as another passed its stern. However, it could not avoid them all as it was struck on its port hanger bay by a particle beam and rocked back and forth. Major Reed and his assault team caught their balance as they neared the corridor that lead to engineering. They could hear weapons fire of the engineering staff fighting off the alien mutineers and terrorists that were trying to get them all killed. If Reed and his team weren't able to retake main engineering soon, then the Tellarites would eventually destroy the Daedalus. Cautiously peering around the corner, Reed could see the entrance of the engineering section, it appeared to be wide open, but his experience told him differently. Suddenly a phaser beam shot out along a few pulse rifle blasts, and then he caught the sight of alien guarding the entrance, armed with a pulse rifle. Of course, looking back over his shoulder to where the bodies of the two dead MACO's, he could've easily guessed where they got those rifles.<p>

Signaling to his men, Reed grabbed a standard issued flash-bang grenade from his vest and prepared to throw it into the entrance of main engineering. "Cover me." He said

"Yes sir." Mayweather said as he and another MACO took their positions.

Reed then stepped into the corridor in order to get a clear shot, and Mayweather and the MACO began firing pulse rifle blasts into the entrance of main engineering, covering him so the Major would get a plasma blast to the chest. The alien mutineers that were guarding the entrance took cover themselves to avoid receiving the same fate, however, unfortunately for them, when the MACO's firing had stopped; a small cylindrical grenade flew into the room and ignited. An intense flash of white light exploded and they fell to the ground, blinded and disoriented, they had temporarily lost their sense of the environment around them. The disorientation wasn't long, maybe a few seconds, but that was more than enough time for the MACO's to make their way into engineering. Reed, Mayweather and the MACO's began firing with pinpoint accuracy at any alien that was an open target, instantly five of the mutineers went down; the two sentries guarding the doorway, then three others who were waving their pulse rifles wildly in the air, trying to regain their senses. Suddenly a phase beam shot passed Reed's face and struck the MACO behind him, sending him to the ground. As everyone scattered to take cover, Reed could see that the one who fired at him was a female Orion, the bridge officer from the Avenger… It was just as he thought, not only had the alien crew revolted, but they had also managed to free the slaves they captured on the Tholian space dock.

"You traitors, you'll die for this!" shouted Reed

"Then we'll take you with us!" The Orion female shouted back and fired again at Reed's position.

Mayweather and two other men began firing on the Orion's position as Reed and the rest of the MACO's made their way deeper inside engineering. As they did so, an alien popped up from behind the main control station and fired a phase pistol at Reed and his team, only missing him by a few centimeters, Reed was getting severely irritated by everyone taking cheap shots at him. He fired his rifle and struck the alien in his sternum. But as one went down another one sprung up and fired his own phase pistol at the MACO's. Reed recognized this one immediately.

"Terev, what the hell do you think you're doing crewman!" Reed shouted as ducked behind a bulkhead.

"I'm protecting my homeworld, after what Archer did to Andoria do you really think that I'm going to let you do the same to Tellar Prime!" said Terev as he fired another shot in Reed's direction, only to be met with a few pulse blasts fired in his direction.

"This is mutiny Terev; maybe I should've kept you in the agony booth a little longer. Do you really think that the Captain is going to let your people get away with this now!" said Reed and prepared a stun grenade.

"I don't give a damn if Archer…" Those were the only words that Terev was able to say as a stun grenade dropped passed his head and landed next to him. Half a second later, it went off and knocked Terev nearly unconscious.

Reed took the opportunity and leapt over the control station and pointed his pulse rifle point blank at Terev's face and pulled the trigger. Mayweather and his men on the other hand were in a firefight with Devna and two other aliens who had taken the phase pistols from the engineering staff that they were able to take by surprise. Devna and her allies were held up behind a secondary control station in another compartment adjacent to the main engineering control center, while Mayweather and his men were behind the bulkhead entryway in the main control center.

"Hey we could use some help up here!" Devna shouted towards the rear of the compartment, but received no answer.

Mayweather slung his pulse rifle over his shoulders and grabbed two stun grenades from his vest, signaling his men to commence suppressing fire; he threw his grenades at the aliens' location. The three of them went down immediately and Mayweather and his MACO's rushed in. They could hear weapons fire and the sounds of struggle in the rear of the compartment.

"Disarm these traitors and cover them, I'm going to check that out." He ordered his men and made his way back.

He saw Commander Tucker fighting with and Andorian in a Starfleet uniform… It was the helmsman from the Avenger. Tucker and the Andorian, Tholos if recalled correctly, were currently in a fierce physical struggle over a pulse rifle while another Starfleet crewman was currently engaged in hand-to-hand combat with an arboreal, Xindi male, as Mayweather raised his rifle to take aim, a large interphasic-power regulator came down on his wrist and knocked the rifle out of his hands. Although to Mayweather it felt more like an old-earth Louisville slugger and all he could feel was a sharp, shooting pain in his right wrist and hand. The next thing he was aware of was of being belted in the small of the back, which sent him to his knees. Before the next swing could connect with his head, he instinctively ducked to the side and swung his legs out, connecting with the ankles of his assailant, he heard a crunching noise as his attacker crashed to the floor next to him; it was the blue-skinned alien that he and the Captain had interrogated earlier.

"You!" Mayweather shouted with rage.

"Yes it's me, you should've killed me when you had the chance!" the alien yelled back.

"Don't worry I will!" shouted Mayweather and launched himself.

The blue-skinned alien quickly tried to grab the regulator before Mayweather could pounce on him, his ankle was broken, and he could feel it so his only hope was to smash his skull before the human was on top of him. However, he was too slow and Mayweather was able to swat the regulator out of his hand before he was able to take another swing.

* * *

><p>On the bridge, even though none of the bridge staff were currently engaged in hand-to-hand combat, things were no less intense. The young crewman was doing an excellent job in out maneuvering the Tellarite attacks; however that would not last for long. Hoshi on the other hand was busy jamming not only the enemy ship's communications, but the planet's as well, as she spotted them attempting to send out a signal. To where, she did not know, and in truth she didn't care; she was just trying to make sure that the Tellarites wouldn't be able to recall any reinforcements that may be in the local sector.<p>

"Captain, I've been able to regain railgun control to the tactical systems." Said T'Pol

"Good then maybe we can actually fight back for once." Said Archer as he targeted the Tellarite vessel and fired.

As the railguns came to life, the Tellarite ship was just far enough away to read the incoming projectile rounds and engaged evasive maneuvers of its own. Thousands of golden glowing rounds chased after the Tellarite ship as it rolled and dove in space, avoiding the angry swarm of death that they represented.

"Shit, they've regained some of their weapons controls and are firing railguns!" said Gaarvin

"Railguns! Keep us out of the weapons range of the railguns and keep firing our particle cannons, they can't keep dodging us forever!" said Skalaar

"Yes sir." Said Gaarvin

"Do we have any of our other systems back online!" Skalaar asked

"Not yet sir," replied one of the crewman. "Engineering reports that our shields would need hours to repair, but we should have transporters capabilities soon."

"What about communications? Can we contact Tellar Prime yet?" Skalaar said

"No sir, they're still jamming our communication frequencies so we aren't able to get a hold of headquarters." Said the crewman.

"Damn! Keep firing, don't let up. If they have partial weapons back then it's only a matter of time before they get the rest of their offensive and defensive systems back online also!" Said Skalaar

"Yes sir." Said Gaarvin as he fired another volley of particle fire at the Daedalus, only landing maybe a third of the shot on the target, even worse none of them appeared to have struck a vital area of the ship, so it kept on fighting back. "Damn humans!" he cursed.

Mayweather's wrist may have been broken, but he well past the point of pain. His wrist had gone numb and he couldn't feel it any longer, whether that was a good thing or not, he no longer cared, all he cared about was getting his revenge against the alien who dared to attack him in the first place. He was mounted on top of the weakened and now defenseless blue-skinned alien that was once his prisoner. Dropping fists and elbows on top of him like hammers from the sky, Mayweather continued to pummel the alien until his bloodied form lied unconscious on the metal floor.

Commander Tucker and Tholos were still locked in a deadly struggle, knowing that whoever got the upper hand and possessed the pulse rifle would be the victor in this fight, as Tucker managed to finally over power Tholos, he slammed him against the bulkhead wall and began throwing knee shots to his stomach. Slamming one shot after another into the Andorian's midsection, Tholos found it hard to breathe as the wind was being literally knocked out of him. Tucker reared back and slammed one last knee shot into Tholos's diaphragm and the Andorian collapsed to the ground.

"You blue-skinned, son of a bitch, you're a traitor to that uniform!" shouted Tucker as he shouldered the pulse rifle and had it aimed at Tholos's head.

"It's worse than that pink-skin! I'm a traitor to my own people! I served on board this ship and followed orders as you humans devastated my homeworld! My family was on Andoria and now they're gone, and I swear by their unmarked graves, that I will avenge them!" Tholos screamed with rage.

Tucker as he flexed his trigger finger, "I don't think so, you're down there on the ground holding your stomach, and I'm up here with a pulse rifle pointed at your head. The only thing you're going to do today is die a pathetic death." Tucker sneered.

"I die free…" said Tholos.

"Whatever, you'll still die." Tucker scoffed.

He squeezed the trigger and fired, however he was also tackled by the male Xindi, who had apparently won his fight with the human, Starfleet crewman. The tackled had caused Tucker's aim to be off and the plasma shot struck the bulkhead only a mere few centimeters away from Tholos's head. Both Tucker and the Xindi crashed to the floor, sending his pulse rifle skidding across the deck plating. As the Xindi landed a few well placed punches across Tucker's scarred face, Tholos scrambled to his feet and made his way to the pulse rifle. But as Tucker took received those few blows from the Xindi, he had pulled out his dagger from his sheath on the side of his hip and plunged it into the Xindi's ribcage.

The Xindi howled in agony as the blade sliced clean through his flesh and through between his ribs into his lungs, over-and-over again. Blood both filling his lungs and pouring out at the same time, staining the deck plating red. Finally, the life just drained from his body and he collapsed to the floor, unable to breathe or vocalize any words, except for the vague and unintelligible gurgling sounds of a dying man. Turning over to face Tholos, he looked up to see the Andorian with his pulse rifle in his hands, aimed at him.

"Goodbye pink-skin." Said Tholos.

"Go to hell!" Tucker responded

"You first!" Tholos shouted as a blue pulse of energy struck him in the chest and was sent sprawling to the ground like a falling meteor.

Turning over in the direction that the blast came from, he saw Mayweather standing with a pulse rifle on the other side of the room at the far wall.

"What the hell took you guys so long?" Shouted Tucker

"We were engaged in a fire fight, sir. I guess you can say we were a bit distracted at the time." Mayweather stated flatly.

"Distracted?" Tucker was somewhat stunned.

"Yes sir." Said Mayweather.

"Ah hell, forget about it and just give me a hand over here." Said Tucker. "Actually, hand me that interphasic-power regulator over there."

Mayweather looked down by his feet and saw the same regulator that the alien had used to attack him with. He slung his rifle around his neck, used his good hand, picked up the regulator and handed it over to Commander Tucker.

"Good, we need to get these systems back online." Tucker said as he went to work repairing his ship.

* * *

><p>The Daedalus was rocked one more time as the Tellarite ship struck the ship with a particle beam. Sparks flew from the consoles behind the plotting table and several crewmen were launched into the air. Soval, who been assigned to work on the bridge, was catapulted through the Plexiglas plotting charts. Green blood splattered across his face as he landed hard, right behind the command chair, with shards of shattered glass raining down upon him and other crewmen.<p>

"Captain, our weapons systems are coming back online." T'Pol stated as the bridge was once again engulfed in orange sparks.

"It's about damn time; powering up plasma emitters and targeting the Tellarite ship." Archer said as he punched in the commands at the tactical station.

At the same time however, as the Daedalus began to come back to life from her previous condition, the Tezra's sensors became active and started to beep wildly.

"Sir, sensors are indicating high energy readings from the Terran ship!" shouted Gaarvin

"No! No! We can't let them win this! Is it coming from their main weapons?" said Skalaar

"Not yet sir, but… Wait, correction sir, detecting high power readings from their four main energy weapons! They're powering up to fire!" Gaarvin yelled

"No… Are our transporters back on line!" said Skalaar

"Yes sir! They came back online a few moments ago!" said Gaarvin

"Then we have no choice!" said Skalaar as he activated the main intercom system. "This is the Captain; I want everyone to arms yourselves with whatever you can get your hands on and prepare for hand-to-hand combat! We are about to board the Human vessel!" he announced

"They're targeting the Tezra!" said Gaarvin

"This is it brother… Target their bridge and energize ship wide transport!" Skalaar ordered.

Back on the Daedalus, Archer was savoring the moment… The Tellarites had not only dared to attack his ship, but were actually able to damage it. His pride would not allow him to let this insult go unpunished, as he targeted the Tellarite ship, took in one last look and smiled.

"Filthy pigs deserve to be slaughtered." Archer said.

As he fired the powerful blue colored, plasma based, energy weapons of the Daedalus which destroyed the Tezra in a blaze of glowing hellfire, and the sounds of transporters could be heard behind him. Spinning around, the glowing green energy of Tellarite transporters faded away to reveal over a dozen armed Tellarites on board his bridge. Almost instantly, the bridge was engulfed in the pulsating red and green energy beams of hand held weapons fire.

T'Pol instantly grabbed one of the Tellarites, which had rematerialized next to her, in a chokehold and held him in front of her body as another Tellarite took aim and fired with his disrupter rifle. However, instead of hitting her, the disrupter blast struck his comrade instead. Knocking her back on the floor, as she hit the ground, she was able to unholster her phase pistol and fire a red beam of energy at her assailant and striking him in his chest, killing him immediately.

Hoshi pulled out her phase pistol only to have it knocked out of her hand as a Tellarite struck the pistol with the butt of his disrupter rifle. As the Tellarite swung his rifle back around, Hoshi ducked underneath and executed a spinning heel kick that landed on the back of the Tellarite's ankles, sending him falling backwards. As he crashed to the ground, Hoshi unsheathed her dagger from her hip and attempted to stab the Tellarite as she threw another kick, knocking the rifle out of his hands. But the Tellarite was able to block her arms from coming down onto his neck. Grabbing her forearms he was able to twist her wrists, loosening her grip on her dagger and elbowed her in her face, as he did so, the dagger dropped from her fingers and she was sent flying backwards. Hitting the ground, she felt the Tellarite's rifle next to her head and by instinct she grabbed the disrupter rifle by its hand grip, pointed it at the Tellarite and managed to pull the trigger just as the he fell on top of her, with her own dagger in his hand. Even though she had managed to kill her attacker, that did not mean she came out of the fight uninjured. Her nose was broken, and the dagger had actually stabbed her in her left arm, but she was still alive, and the Tellarite wasn't.

As soon as one of the Tellarites had rematerialized in front of him, Soval tackled him below his knees. Being a Vulcan, he was naturally much physically stronger than most other humanoid species. The force of his blow broke the Tellarites legs, and caused him to wail in great pain as Soval took charge of the disrupter rifle and fired off a few shots that killed both the Tellarite he injured as well as another two that had taken a few of the Starfleet crewmen by surprise and had killed.

Gaarvin and another Tellarite crewman had overpowered and killed the Starfleet helmsman that had piloted the Daedalus, as Gaarvin turned his attention towards, he found a rather large energy pistol in his face; which was the last thing he will ever see, as Archer squeezed the trigger and fired a ruby red bolt of energy at point blank range, the other Tellarite turned his weapon at Archer but was struck in the back by a phase blast and fell to the ground. T'Pol had fired near point blank range as rushed forward towards Archer. For a moment, he thought that T'Pol was going to attack him, and lifted his particle magnum.

"Captain lookout!" she shouted.

He spun his head over his shoulder to find and enraged Tellarite standing directly behind him with a disrupter rifle aimed at him.

"Gaarvin!" Skalaar screamed.

The next thing Archer became aware of was his body being thrown to the side as a green pulse of energy flew passed him. The energy blast had instead struck T'Pol instead of him, she pushed Archer out of the way and took full impact of the energy blast herself. It hit her on the left side of her chest and sent her spinning over the helm control, smashing into deck plating. He took his magnum as he landed on the ground and fired several shots at Skalaar. The red energy bolts rained down upon him like a hailstorm from the sky. The Tellarite's body was sent flying across the bridge in pieces by the force of the focuses energy blasts.

He rose to his feet to see his bridge scarred by scorch marks from weapons fire and the bodies of the Tellarite boarding party lied strewn about along with members of his own crew. However, his crew had won the fight and killed the invaders. Adrenaline pumping through his body, everywhere he looked he aimed his weapon. However, that sort of precaution was no longer needed, as all the Tellarites were now dead and stinking up his bridge.

"Archer to main engineering." Said Archer as he activated the intercom.

"This is Commander Tucker, Captain." Tucker responded

"Status report." Said Archer

"Major Reed and his MACO's were able to take down most of the alien mutineers, sir and Sgt Mayweather was able to capture a few of them alive as prisoners." Said Tucker

"What about our systems?" Archer asked

"All of our weapons are online and I'm bringing up our shields as well as our transporters systems also." Said Tucker

"Good, is Major Reed still down there?" he asked

"Major Reed here, sir." His came over the intercom.

"I want you to take a few of you men and go down to the Horizon platform and see if it has been damaged in any way." Said Archer

"Yes sir." Said Reed and took two of his men to head down towards the Horizon.

"Commander Tucker, what about our other systems, are they operational?" he asked

"The subspace capacitor has taken moderate damage, nothing I can't fix but it will take a few hours, sir. We're currently running off of the energy reserves that was already stored in the capacitor, it should last us about thirty-six hours until it becomes depleted. However, I will have the capacitor repaired long before then. Our sublight engines took little damage and can be put back online in about two hours. The hyperdrive is another issue though, they took the most damage and I'll have to end up using most if not all of our replacement parts we cannibalized from the Avenger to get them working again and even then if I am able to get them repaired I won't be able to guarantee one-hundred percent efficiency. Repairing the hyperdrive is going to take me most of the day, possibly two, and I'm also going to need every available crewman to assist me in the repairs. Half of my engineering staff was killed in the revolt." Tucker explained in detail.

Archer winced at the report Tucker gave him, but understood the extent of what had happened, whether he liked it or not. "Understood Commander, I need everything you can give me as soon as possible, take as many people as you need to help you." Said Archer

"Yes sir." Tucker said and deactivated the intercom in engineering and immediately began on the repairs.

"Major Reed to the bridge." Came Reed's voice over the speakers.

"This is Archer, report." Said Archer

"The Horizon missiles are undamaged sir, they're ready to go as soon as you give the order." Said Reed

"Excellent, I want you to prep FOUR of those warheads for immediate transport to the planet!" Archer ordered.

"Four, sir? That'll take out over ninety percent of the planet." Said Reed.

"I know that!" Archer shouted. "Those damned Tellarites have given me enough trouble and if takes wiping out most of their species to bring them back in line with the proper order of things, then so be it!" he shouted

"Happily sir." Said Reed and had his men arm an additional two missiles for beam down on top of the two which were already prepped and ready. "Missiles are all armed, sir. They're ready for transport whenever you are."

"Good…" Archer growled and calmly stepped back over to the tactical console station. With the planet of Tellar Prime clearly visible in the observation window, he punched in the commands and beamed down the Horizon missiles below. Within seconds, the beautiful blue-green flourishing world Tellar Prime was ignited by red-orange clouds of hell itself. The mushroom clouds breaking through the lower atmosphere of the planet, sending out massive amounts of radiation that spread over the planets within mere moments turned the lush world into a literal hell on earth, so to speak. The oceans instantly boiled away, the mountains crumbled and melted, the plains and forests burned to ash and the poles boiled and evaporated. The once blue-green world of Tellar Prime was now a red world. Lava and nuclear fire flowed and pulsated its way across the planetary landscape. Archer highly doubted that any of the planet's population would survive the Armageddon that he had sent down with a simple push of a button. Ninety percent seemed to be a bit conservative of an estimate in his opinion. But if any of the inhabitant's of Tellar Prime did survive holocaust, they wouldn't survive for long. For intents and purposes, the Tellarites species, with the exception of the few surviving members that were not on the planet below and were instead on other worlds somewhere else in this quadrant, were now all extinct.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> Pretty much a continuation of the last chapter by showing how vulnerable the Terrans could be by lowering their guard too much. A long fight chapter between ships and people, and how far the Terrans would go for revenge when they think they've been wronged by nearly wiping out an entire species. This is also the last of the previous chapters and I will now be actively writing new chapters for this story. So it may take a little longer to post more chapters, but I will do so as I complete them.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight**

It was now 4 hours after the annihilation of Tellar Prime, and repairs were going as scheduled. All tactical systems were online and the Sublight engines had been restored two hours ago and the ship was now traveling at full sublight speed. The Subspace Capacitor was restored only moments earlier and Commander Tucker and his staff were now hard at work at repairing the Hyperdrive. It would take many hours to leave the Tellar System traveling at sublight, but they had very little choice until the Hyperdrive is back online.

For now however, Archer had a more pressing concern to deal with. Namely, the aliens who led the revolt on his new ship. As he stepped into the brig, he saw Major Reed along with a couple of other MACO's and Starfleet personnel taking turns beating the only surviving aliens from the revolt. Three slaves, two male Suliban, and a male Xindi primate; and the Starfleet traitor; the Orion female, Devna. There were a total of eight cells in the brig. Four along each wall, and each prisoner was restrained by chains hanging from the ceiling. Shackled around their wrists, which stretched their arms overhead so high that their toes barely made contact with the deck, and by chains that were connected to the floor and shackled around their ankles, in individual cells; two across from each other so they could watch when the others were being beaten and tortured.

"So how's coming along Major?" said Archer

"Sir." Reed and the other saluted. "They refuse to divulge any information as to whether or not they are a part of the rebellion against the Empire."

"Even if they weren't, it doesn't really matter." Archer stated flatly

"Sir?" Reed questioned

"Well, we have two choices in the end don't we? We can either kill them all, or we're just going to have to punish their people for the crimes they've committed here today, wouldn't you agree?" Archer stated

"Yes, sir. I rather like those choices." Reed grinned; he liked the sound of that.

"Y-y-y… You c-c-can't…" One of the beaten Suliban hoarsely coughed out, only to receive a hardened fist across his jaw for his troubles, from one of the Starfleet personnel.

"At ease." Said Archer, and the Starfleet crewman backed off. "And why would say that, slave?" Emphasizing the word Slave, as he entered the cell.

"B-b-b… Be-because, our people were n-n-not r-responsible for what h-happened here…" The Suliban stated.

"Oh, is that so?" Archer mocked. "Then what would they be responsible for, I mean, after all aren't your people responsible for your actions? Are they not responsible for how you were raised? Didn't they teach you to respect and obey your superiors? If not, then they raised you very poorly and should be punished for their failure; maybe next time they'll do a better job with their children," Archer said as he towered over him.

"But w-what we did w-was n-n-not their fault…" The Suliban coughed again.

"Again you say that your people are not responsible, but from the way I see it, they are. Case in point, the Cabal had terrorized the Tandaran people for decades; and after the Tandarans had allowed Suliban refugees to settle in their sector after your homeworld became uninhabitable. The Cabal killed hundreds of Tandarans over the years and the rest of Suliban society did nothing to stop them, their incompetence to police their own invited the Cabal to continue with their campaign of terror. It wasn't until the Terran Empire stepped in to assist the Tandarans with their struggle, that the Cabal were defeated and your people were put in your place. I mean, you were guests in their space after all, and you treated them with a great deal of disrespect. On the bright side however, since the destruction of the Cabal and their leadership the Tandarans have become one of the most loyal subjects of the Empire." Archer stated

"The Cabal weren't t-t-terrorists… W-we were p-p-peaceful… Non-violent p-protesters…" The Suliban stammered as he hacked up a glob of partially congealed blood on the floor.

"We?" Said Archer. "What's your name slave?"

"Silik… My name, is Silik." He responded

"Silik?" Archer thought for a moment before his eyes grew wide at a flash of memory. "Silik… Now I remember that name. You were one of their leaders weren't you? You were responsible for the deaths of hundreds of Tandarans."

"W-we didn't kill anybody. T-those deaths w-were fabricated… LIES!.." Silik coughed again

"It's your word against theirs, and I'm more inclined to believe the word of the Tandarans rather than the word of a terrorist. Besides you should be happy, your people are well taken care of now. They have three meals a day, a roof over their heads and have access to medical care whenever they need it." Archer smiled

"They are forced to s-s-squalor in detention camps. They're fed gruel b-b-barely fit to f-f-feed rats. They l-live in shacks and are only seen by d-d-doctors when they d-die." Silik stated angrily, this time coughing up blood.

"That's why they should teach their children to respect and obey authority." Said Archer

"Respect? Your kind knows nothing of respect…" Sounded a voice from behind, and the 'thud' sound of someone being struck in the face.

Archer looked up and saw the other Suliban male bleeding from his mouth, "And who might you be?" He asked as he left Silik's cell and entered the other one.

"Sajen… Not that it matters to you." He replied angrily and spat a mist of blood on the floor.

"You're right; it doesn't. Because after I leave this brig, I'll never think about any of you ever again." Archer smiled

"You Terrans, you're all the same… Smug and arrogant, full of yourselves; your inflated egos will be the end of you one day." Sajen responded

"Maybe… But not today." Archer ginned evilly and walked out, setting his sight on the worst one of them of all… The traitor.

Stepping into her cell, he stared at with vile contempt as she grimaced in pain from her beating. "Well, well, well…" He hissed. "Look at you. Do you know how much troubled you've caused? Do you know how many members of crew were injured and killed? Do you know how much damage you've caused to my ship?"

"Your ship?" She grimaced again as the blood from her forehead slowly truckled down her face. "This isn't your ship… You don't even have a real command, you –"

Archer smacked her across her face, making her head spin and body sway back and forth from the hanging chains from the force of his blow. "You will only speak when I tell you to speak, you traitor. You are the worst of them all, you swore an oath to the Empire and you betrayed that oath. You dishonor the uniform that thousands of brave and loyal men and women have died for."

"I never wanted this uniform!" Devna spat. "I was conscripted against my will…"

"You're a disgrace!" Archer yelled

"I'm an Orion, I've never held my allegiance to the Empire, I hate the Empire! You treat my people like slaves and you expect us to remain loyal to your Terran Empire? I just wanted to stay home with my family and now I don't even know where in the galaxy they are… They're probably dead, and it's all of you Terrans fault!" Devna exclaimed as the hot sting of tears began to gather in her eyes.

Archer stood there for a moment, his eyes locked with hers, and then smiled as a thought came to mind. "If that's the way you want it." He stated as he motioned for Major Reed and some of his men to walk over. "This bitch doesn't deserve to wear the uniform of a Starfleet officer; she is nothing more than a traitor and a slave… Treat her appropriately, strip her."

Reed smiled as he gave his men the order. Her eyes widened as the MACOs approached her with their daggers in hand, sliced the uniform off her body, and let the rags drop to the floor. Chained and fully naked in front of the humans, she had never felt more exposed, or vulnerable in her life. Even if she was an alien and not a human, Orion females had the reputation of being among the most beautiful and voluptuous, women in the galaxy, and Archer was happy to see that those rumors were not false, after all.

"Fuck you, you'll never break me." She spat in defiance.

"Actually, you have that the other way around, and yes, we will... In more ways than one." Archer said as approached closely. "I guarantee it." And grabbed one of breasts forcefully, digging his nails into her soft mound of flesh, and making her scream in pain.

Devna started to tremble as the meaning behind his words sank into her mind. "Stop…" she spoke, no louder than a whisper.

Archer couldn't help but wink as he backed away, "Major, after everything that has happened on ship over the last several hours, I'd think that the crew could use a 'boost in morale.' Wouldn't you agree?"

"No…" Devna spoke aloud, only to be ignored.

"Yes, sir. I would indeed." Reed agreed as his eyes washed over the nude form of the Orion female with lustful and hungry eyes.

"No please…" She begged

"Good, have all the men, and even the women if they wish, take regular breaks during their duty shifts for some R-and-R, and to have a 'morale booster.' As of right now I'm officially making this slave the ship's new 'Morale Officer.' Not everyone can take a break at the same time however, so I'm going to need you to come up with a roster for an onboard R-and-R schedule. I'm sure it'll improve the spirits among this ship. Don't you think?" said Archer

"Definitely, sir." Said Reed

"No please! You can't do this! Not even you can be so cruel, why don't you just kill me instead!" Devna pleaded.

Archer turned his gaze back towards the nude, green-skinned traitor, "Because that's what you want, and because you deserve a punishment far worse than death for the crimes you've committed against the Empire… No… You won't die, I'm going to make it a point to keep you alive and healthy so that you can properly reward the hard working members of this crew for the job they've done. However, you will wish that you were dead, long before your death comes to you."

"I already do…" Devna said to herself, not caring if any of the others heard her or not.

"Well then, I'd say that the punishment is already working." He chuckled as the MACO's and Reed laughed, Devna all the while let her tears of sorrow flow.

"You monsters!" Shouted a voice from another cell.

Archer and Reed looked to see a Starfleet crewman pull his dagger from his sheath and was about to cut the throat of the Xindi primate when Archer had ordered him to halt. "Should I even bother asking you who you are? I mean, you're all about to die soon so why should I even waste my time?"

"My name is Degra, and you are all going to burn in the afterlife for all of this! You're all monsters! The whole damned Terran race!" Degra said

"That wasn't exactly answering my question, but I guess I should've expected nothing more from a slave." Said Archer

"I am not a slave!" He protested

"Oh yes you are, just because you don't like it, doesn't change that fact that you are a slave. At least for a little while longer before you die, that is." Archer retorted. "You know, we should have killed off the rest of your pathetic race long ago along with the other Xindi species."

"You committed genocide!" he yelled. "We did nothing to provoke your war against us."

"I beg to differ, the Insectoids and the Reptilians believed that they could just invade our space and get away with it." Said Archer. "We proved them wrong."

"They were searching for a new homeworld to establish their colonies on; they didn't know they were encroaching upon your territory." Said Degra

"Well maybe if your species didn't destroy your first homeworld, then it would have been a different story, but it doesn't really matter now does it? They started the war and we finished it." Smiled Archer. "You know I was there at the destruction of the last Reptilian outpost, I was only a Lieutenant at the time, but I can still remember the fireworks. Every last one of them had gathered in some sort of underground bunker to hide out the end of the war, but we found them and gave those cowards the fate they deserved."

"They were civilians! They were innocent people who had nothing to do with the fighting in the war; the elderly, the women and children! They weren't soldiers; your Empire murdered the last of the Reptilian race!" Degra shouted angrily

"They never should've started a war they couldn't finish… You know, I wasn't there for the eradication of the Insectoids, but I heard it was quite a show. You Primates and Arboreals were smart to surrender to our forces." Said Archer

"What of the Aquatics? We never heard of what happened to them! What did you do to them?" Degra demanded

"They're a little too oily for my taste, but then again I was never too particular to whale meat. Nevertheless, they are quite the delicacy. The young ones especially, the older ones are too chewy." Archer smiled.

"You ate them…?" Degra said in revulsion and disgust to the point of vomiting.

"Ate..? That's a bit harsh don't you think? The word 'Ate' indicates that they no longer exist. No Slave, we didn't 'Ate' the Aquatics. We 'Eat' the Aquatics. Didn't you hear what I just said? The young ones are quite the delicacy. We raise them in massive food tanks, giant aquariums if you will, almost like fish farms, to be slaughtered and cleaned as soon as they maturity, to peak flavor. But again, I'm not much of a fan myself, a little too oily for my palette." Archer laughed as the slave puked on himself, and then turned his attention back to weeping Orion slave girl, Devna. "As much as I would enjoy watching her suffer, I have other duties to attend too. Kill the others and beam their corpses into space; then after that, you and your men can a little private session with the slave girl to boost your morales."

"Thank you, sir." Reed replied as Archer left the brig. "You heard the Captain, kill them."

The evil grins on the faces of the Starfleet and MACO personnel struck horror deep into the souls of the captives. The Starfleet crewman, who had unsheathed his dagger moments before, finished what he started out to do with the Xindi and slit his throat wide open. Blood gushed forth from the neck of Degra like a waterfall as his body twitched and convulsed violently. Silik and Sajen fared no better as phase pistols were drawn from their holsters and fired at point blank range to their foreheads.

Moments later, as the Daedalus swam gently the oceans of dark space in the Tellar System, three tiny specs of light flashed briefly behind the ship; the floating forms of three dead bodies were caught in the backwash of the ship's sublight engines, and were vaporized.

Back in the brig and chained in her cell, Devna trembled with fear, she had just watched three people be murdered in front of her eyes and their bodies disposed of, and now those same murderers were closing in on her. "Please, please you don't have to do this!"

"But we do want to do this." Smiled MACO Corporal, Amanda Cole.

"Wait please, why are you doing this? You're a woman, why would you let this happen? You can't possibly want something like this to happen to another woman. What if this was happening to you, you've got to help me please!" She said

Corporal Amanda Cole, first answered by backhanding Devna across the face, and then grabbed her forcefully beneath her chin and stared into her eyes. "First of all, don't you ever compare me to a slave bitch like you! I am a woman, that much is obvious, but more importantly I am a Human, and I am forever loyal to the Terran Empire. I would never find myself in your pathetic position because I would never betray my Empire, unlike you! You Orions, in fact all of you aliens, are from less evolved cultures and should all be subjugated. Your current situation is proof of that. The Empire tried to give you a chance of rising above your station and even gave you a commission in Starfleet, and you spat in our face for our generosity. I don't give a damn if you're a female or not; you're a female from an inferior species as far as I'm concerned and you deserve what you get." Said Cole, and slapped her again.

"But you can be better than this! You all can! You can prove that the rumors and the reputation your species has is wrong! Please I'm begging you don't do this, please!" She pleaded, the tears flowing freely now.

"Our species has earned the reputation we have for a very good reason, because all of the rumors are true. Haven't you learned that by now, slave?" Corporal Cole responded.

"Should we leave her up, or should we bring her down?" Asked a Starfleet crewman, not really caring what the answer would be, either way was fine to him.

"Take her down, and spread her legs." Said Reed

"No!" Devna screamed, as they started to unshackle her chains. She kicked, punched, clawed, spat and bit desperately at the Humans who held her captive and now attempted to wrestle her down to the cold, metal floor. However, there were just too many of them to fight, as hard as she tried, she couldn't. They restrained her immediately and tossed her to the deck like a rag doll, and controlled her like one. With one of the humans on each of her limbs, she was at their complete mercy, which was something she knew that she would never receive… The cold chill of the metal deck plating beneath her ran down her back, legs, and up her arms; and the pain that came afterwards shot up her spine as they pulled her legs apart so wide that she felt as if they were going to literally split her in two, and screamed in pain. As she did, she felt the weight of someone else now lying on top of her, and between her legs. Opening her eyes from the pain, she saw that it was Major Reed.

"This is one of the privileges of being a senior ranking officer, boys and girls." He said jokingly as the others chuckled at his remark.

However, Devna was the only one who did not laugh… She sobbed instead as the MACO security chief positioned himself more comfortably between her legs, unzipped his trousers, lowered them, and felt him pressing against her. "Get the fuck off of me!" She screamed at him.

"I don't think so princess." He said, and grabbed her breasts. "I promise you, you won't enjoy this… But I will." He smiled, and watched her tears rolled down the sides of her temples, onto the cold, uncaring, metal floor.

"Oh, don't cry my little, green princess." Reed said as he ruthlessly squeezed both her breasts in his hands, and pinched her nipples mercilessly; making her cry even more. "No tears please, it's a waste of good suffering." He said and thrusted forward.

* * *

><p>Commander Tucker and his staff were hard at work at repairing the Hyperdrive of the Daedalus for the last five hours now. If they failed to restore the drive, then they won't be able to make it back to Earth, and they'll be stuck flying at sublight speed for the rest of their natural lives, and in his case it wouldn't last very long. He had told Archer that it would take almost every component from the Avenger in order to repair the drive, and in part, he was telling the truth. What he didn't tell Archer was that he and his staff still knew almost next to nothing about the working mechanics of the Hyperdrive. The technology was not only far more advanced than the standard Warp drive on Starfleet ships, but the very principles behind the Hyperdrive was different in almost every way. He's been reading through the technical files on the Hyperdrive in the ship's computers every time he had the opportunity to do so, however, with that being said; he's basically giving himself, along with his entire staff, a crash course in Hyperdrive Engineering and Operations. He told Archer that he could have it repaired in a day, two at the most… He just hoped that he had bought himself enough time to actually come through on his word, otherwise his life was forfeit.<p>

Looking up from the Hyperdrive schematics at his workstation monitor, he saw very clearly that his engineering staff were working diligently to see the drive repaired. As much as they feared the Captain, they also feared the Commander, if nothing else because he was right there and looking over their shoulders constantly.

"Crewman Alison, what are you doing!" shouted Tucker

Crewman Second Class, Carly Alison had been on his engineering staff since the maiden voyage of the Enterprise four years earlier. She was beautiful and physically fit, as her finely-toned midriff clearly revealed, and was for the most part, a very competent engineer and had complimented her for work on several occasions, except in times like this when her fatigue got the better of her. He had just seen her momentarily doze off while attempting to remove one of the damaged relays from the Hyperdrive's power-flow regulation system. "Sir!" She replied.

"I said what are you doing!" He repeated himself and walked over to where she was.

"I was removing this damaged relays sir." She replied, a slight tremor in her voice. She knew that she was exhausted, and she was trying hard to fight the urge to fall asleep. But, they had been through so much recently that, with the strain and stress, it was getting harder and harder to stay awake. The events that led to the destruction of the Enterprise, the Tholians, the Gorn, the Avenger and the defeat of the Rebels at the rendezvous point, Andoria, Tellar Prime and the slave revolt onboard the ship. They had gotten very little to no sleep, ever since they got onboard the Daedalus.

"No you weren't you, you fell asleep. I just saw you do it. Do you have any idea how dangerous it is to remove a component like this is, even if it is damaged? You could destroy have the ship!" Tucker shouted, enraged.

"Yes, sir! It won't happen again, sir!" She answered

"It better not." Tucker responded and walked away.

As he did so, Alison cursed herself under a hushed tone for having been so stupid to fall asleep while on duty, and even more so for being caught by Commander Tucker. In his current mental state, he may very well have been willing to execute her then-and-there for dereliction of duty.

Returning to his workstation, he pinched the bridge of his nose. They had all been working for far too long, and with too little rest. Regaining his senses to the task at hand, he looked up to see Archer enter Engineering.

"Status report Commander." Said Archer

"We still have a long to go Captain; we are removing the damaged components from the drive and fabricating replacement parts using the drive components from the Avenger. A handful of the parts were able to be substituted directly, but the rest will have to be manufactured by cannibalizing one component with another and so on. At present rate, sir; we should be able to have the Hyperdrive operational between the next 20 to 36 hours." Said Tucker

"Should, or Will?" said Archer in menacing tone.

"Will, sir; we will have the Hyperdrive repaired." Said Tucker, knowing full well the gamble he was taking.

Archer stared him down for a few more moments before speaking, "Good, see to it that you do Commander, or I'll be forced to promote someone in your place."

"Yes, sir." Replied understanding his full meaning, and watched as he began to walk away and then stopped.

"I want another status report on the Hyperdrive in 12 hours Commander." Archer said, and the left Engineering.

Tucker was fuming inside, but he couldn't let it show, not now anyway. He had to get back to work, more for himself than anything else. As he stared back down at the console, his vision began to blur momentarily. Squeezing his eyelids shut and shaking his head, his vision came back to him; he had gone too long without sleep and now it was beginning to affect him as well. Looking up he could see the signs of fatigue and exhaustion all around him, Crewman Alison wasn't the only one fighting sleep, his entire staff were.

"Alex, Billy, Taylor, Dillard, Alison, front and center!" Shouted Tucker

A chorus of "Aye, sir" reverberated though out Engineering as they posted themselves at attention in front of Tucker's workstation.

"Alright people, we've all been through a lot recently, and we need to be at our top game. Especially right now, we can't afford to let our lack of sleep get the better of us and cause an accident that could get us all killed." He stated and briefly looked at Alison. "So this is what we're going to do, we're going to take shift breaks and catch a few hours of sleep and let ourselves recharge. So I want you five to take the first shift break and get about 4 hours of sleep, if you're not back in that time, I'll go to your quarters and wake you up personally, and believe me, it won't be pleasant."

"Yes, sir." Was their collective response

"Go." Said Tucker, and four of them left, Crewman Alison, however, stayed behind "I told you to go crewman, so why aren't you leaving?"

"Sir, I'd prefer to stay and keep working." She stated.

"I don't think so Alison, you nearly fell asleep 3 minutes ago. You need to rest, so go and get some sleep." Tucker said sternly.

"Yes, sir I know I do. I won't lie to you, sir I'm tired as hell. But I'm not leaving my post unless you do as well, sir." Alison said; her voice trembled slightly, revealing her fear.

"What was that? Are you giving me an order?" Tucker said in a low and dangerous tone.

Alison swallowed unconsciously and responded as steady, and as calmly as she could. "Sir, with all due respect, you need sleep as well. Probably more so than the rest of us, in fact you've barely rested at all since coming on board and it's beginning to show." As Tucker slowly made his way around his work station and she could he the phase pistol in his hand, and felt a cold chill run down her spine.

"So then what are you trying to say crewman?" Tucker said, staring her down with the phase pistol in hand.

"Sir…" She swallowed again, "You need a break, sir. That's all… You expect to be at your best when you're just as drained as the rest of us. I'm not trying to challenge your command, I would never think of it, but we need you at your best. So, if you don't mind sir, I'll be at my post for as long as you're at yours." She said as sweat started to bead on her forehead, which was greeted by the barrel of a phase pistol now pressed against it, and gasped.

Tucker stood there for several moments, staring her down, enraged that anyone in his staff would question him, let alone challenge him; and for the briefest of seconds he actually considered of pulling the trigger. However, common sense got hold of him before he did so. The painful truth was that, when it came right down to it, she was right and he knew it… As much as he hated to admit it, she was right and lowered his phase pistol. If he didn't get some sleep soon, he would become just as much of a danger to the ship as the Gorn, or the revolting slaves, or the Tellarites were.

"Fine…" He said. "Jenkins!"

"Yes, sir!" shouted Jenkins as he came and stood at attention.

"I'm leaving you in charge down here, while the crewman and I go get some shut-eye. We'll be back in 4 hours to relieve you and some other so you can get some rest as well. So everything better be running smoothly while I'm gone, understand?" Said Tucker

"Yes, sir." Jenkins replied

"Oh and by the way, if I come back and catch anyone sleeping on the job, I'll make sure that you go to sleep permanently… Got it?" Tucker said

"Yes, sir... Perfectly..." Jenkins answered nervously

"Good… I'm going to my quarters." Tucker stated and left.

* * *

><p>Ten minutes later Tucker was back in his quarters, he had stripped down to his undershirt, and boxer shorts and was about to slip into bed when there was a chime at the door. It wasn't the usual chime he was used to on the Enterprise, but he knew what it was all the same.<p>

"What!" He shouted irritably

The door opened to reveal Crewman Alison standing there, "Hello, sir."

"Oh, for crying out loud, get in here and close the door. What do you want?" he asked

"I was only curious, sir…" She stated

"Curious? About what?" he asked

"About our… Relationship, sir…" she said hesitantly

"Relationship?... You want to know about our relationship? Our relationship crewman was almost killed when I came to within a cunt's hair of blowing your damned head off earlier with my phase pistol, that's what! You got some fucking balls saying what you said down there." Said Tucker as he approached her.

"Yes, sir… But I was right, wasn't I?" she asked refusing to back off, even though it was probably the smart thing to do.

"With respect, sir... If the situation calls for it again, I'll do the same as I did earlier." She said

"Oh really?" he said as he came perilously close to her now. "So you are challenging me?"

She gulped before answering, "Yes, sir. If I have to… I will. You were a danger to the ship just as much as we-"

Suddenly Tucker lunged at her, and slammed her against the bulkhead with his hands around her neck. She retaliated by slamming her knee into his midsection, briefly knocking the wind out of him, doubling him over. As she struck her elbow down in the center of his back, Tucker grabbed both of her ankles and yanked them up off the deck as he stood straight up, chopping her down like a giant tree. The loud thud that echoed throughout his quarters, were overshadowed by her sudden yelp of pain as her head slammed into the deck; and his hands swiftly wrapped around her neck once again, choking her.

"Do you still want to challenge me, Alison?" He said

Alison looked up, gasping for breath. "Y… Y-y… Yes…" She choked

"Damn, you are a kinky little bitch aren't you?" Said Tucker

"Y-you kn-know it…" Alison croaked out, and smiled, bringing her hand behind his head and pulling him closer into a deep and passionate kiss, their tongues diving deep into the other's mouth and slid across each other.

Finally releasing his hands from her neck, he slid then down and unzipped the blouse of her uniform, revealing her black laced bra underneath. "I hate it when you're right." He said

"No you don't, you love it." She said while pulling off his shirt.

"You see, that's what I mean; I hate it when you're right." He said as he unbuttoned her trousers and pulled them down.

"But I love it when you play rough," She said, kicking off her boots so Tucker could take her pants off completely, leaving her in bra and panties.

"I know you do." He replied, unfastening her bra and exposing her breasts. He seized onto one of her stiff, erect nipples with his mouth and sucked on it hungrily like a starving infant needing to breastfeed; and gently guided his down hand beneath her panties between her legs.

She moaned loudly and arched her back with unfathomable pleasure, basking in the ecstasy of their lovemaking. "We really needed this break."

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> This chapter I wanted to show just how cruel and barbaric the Terrans could really be, and not on a planetary level as they were with Andoria and Tellar Prime, but more on a personal level. For Instance, the treatment of the surviving slaves, and especially with Devna, the Orion female; the utter lack of concern about the physical and emotional well-being with their prisoners, and the callus, intolerant, attitude towards anyone from a different race. So this chapter was meant to be darker than the others were. However, it also introduced two characters from the series, Corporal Amanda Cole, with the MACO's and Crewman Second Class Alison, which in the series they stated her first name, unless Alison was her first name, so I used the first name of the actress that played the role. For as long as this chapter is, I actually wrote it pretty fast.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine**

The light hurt her eyes as she slowly opened them, the last thing she remembered was being on the bridge when the Tellarites beamed on board and attempted to kill the bridge crew and take over the ship. Her chest was sore, her head was aching and she felt dizzy, it was only then that she realized that she was lying down in a medical bed. Gazing down, she noticed that was no longer wearing her uniform as, but was instead wearing a black medical or patients' gown, and covered to the waist beneath a thin, bed sheet. As her eyes continued to look around her, she saw that there was a medical curtain surrounding her bed, an off-white, almost grayish color. She could hear Phlox and his medical staff from beyond the curtains and called for him.

"Doctor…" she called out in a raspy voice. Her throat was dry and it pained her to speak, but she managed to do so.

The curtain parted, and in stepped Doctor Phlox, dressed in his usual black physician's robes. "Ahh, I see you're finally awake."

"Doctor…" she said hoarsely. "I see that my uniform has been removed without my knowledge and that I now seem to reside in sickbay for the time being."

"Your talents of observation are, as always, astonishing T'Pol." Phlox said, sarcastically

She noticed the remark but said nothing of it, deciding it was not worth the brief argumentative exchange for the moment, especially in her current condition. "What happened?" She asked.

"Well, you were hit in the upper region of the left side of your chest by the particle discharge of a Tellarite handheld energy pistol. You should consider yourself lucky, had you been Human, that shot would have killed you instantly. However, since Vulcan hearts are lower than Human hearts, I was able to save your life." Said Phlox

"Vulcans don't believe in luck doctor, it was just a fortunate happenstance that the Tellarite's aim was off." Said T'Pol

"His aim was meant for Captain Archer, and yet you threw him out of the way at the last instant and took the shot in your torso on his behalf instead." Said Phlox

"I performed my duty as a Starfleet officer and safeguarded my Captain during a hostile situation that could have resulted in his death. It was not my intention to be shot in his place." She said

"Either way, you're still lucky to be alive." Phlox said

"Was the Captain injured?" T'Pol asked

"Just the usual scrapes and bruises one would expect from any physical altercation, nothing severe." Phlox answered

"What about the ship, and the Tellarites?" she asked another question.

"The Tellarites have all been killed, fortunately enough. Sgt Mayweather and some MACO's are currently performing a search of the ship just in case any of them survived the assault and escaped, or if any had transported aboard onto a different section of the ship and are hiding out somewhere. As for the ship, Commander Tucker has managed to bring both the Sublight engines and the main Power Plant back online. However, I believe it will still be quite some time before the Hyperdrive has been restored to working order again." Phlox replied

"I see, and what of the rest of the crew?" she asked

"Most of them appeared to have sustained anywhere from minor to moderate injuries, nothing to worry about. Your Vulcan friend from the Avenger, Soval, sustained some cuts and bruises along with a dislocated shoulder after having been thrown through a Plexiglas plotting chart on the bridge. Vulcan or not, he was extremely lucky that he did not break his neck instead." Said Phlox

"That is good to hear." T'Pol stated, Soval had been a good friend to T'Pol over the years. His loss would have been profound.

"Ensign Sato however, sustained a deep laceration on her arm and a broken nose. I was able to suture the wound with very little difficulty and repair her nose as well. Although there will be some swelling for a few days." He said

"You should left it broken, it may have given her some personality." T'Pol declared

"Not a fan of the Ensign I see, well no matter. She was discharged several hours ago to return to her duties, along with your friend Soval. If everything goes well you should be released in a few hours as well." Said Phlox

T'Pol and attempted to sit up, but as she did so, the soreness in her chest flared into a sudden, sharp pain that forced her back down immediately.

"You're in pain, here let me take a look." Phlox said and began to remove the medical gown from her shoulders when T'Pol quickly grabbed his hands to stop him.

"I would prefer that you do not remove my garment doctor." She said

"T'Pol, don't be ridiculous, I am a doctor; and more importantly it is my duty as your physician to attend to the medical needs of all my patients, including you. Now please, remove your hands so that I may carry out that duty and see if you are in need of any other medical treatments I have yet to perform." Phlox explained

Slowly removing her hands from his, she anxiously, as anxious as a Vulcan can become, allowed the doctor to remove her medical gown from her body. The air was cold, and tiny goose bumps instantly formed on her naked skin. She glanced down and saw the hideous injury created by the Tellarite's energy pistol; the dark, green bruising above her breast, and the sutures from where her open wound had been stitched back together. She had to fight the immediate urge to tense her body when his hands touched her. The focus of his attention was upon her upper, left chest. She could easily tell that, by the amount of pressure he was applying to her chest, that it was tremendously swollen; and everytime he moved his fingers and touched her, there was a small amount of pain that shot through her.

However, she noticed that even though he was applying pressure to different areas to her chest where the swelling had taken place I order to check the severity of it, his hands had never left her left breast. In fact, the palm of his right hand never shifted from cupping her left nipple, and his left hand continued to gently squeeze her full breast. No matter where he placed his fingers to check her swelling, his hand stayed in place. Not only did was she beginning to feel furious about his lack of a doctor's 'bedside' manners, but she was also feeling violated by his actions. A doctor was supposed to heal his patients, not sexually molest them. She was about to protest against his lack of ethics when he suddenly removed his hands from her breast and spoke.

"Your chest is dangerously swollen, it shouldn't be that way. Even if your heart is lower than a Human's; if the swelling doesn't cease it will begin to constrict your lung and you will have a difficult time breathing; not only that, but your sutures will break and your wound will open up again." Said the Doctor

"What will need to be done?" she asked, attempting to distract herself from the sexual mistreatment she had just experienced.

"I will need to apply several Rigelian leeches to decrease the swelling, at least for now to be safe. The enzymes they secret in their saliva have great regenerative, and pain-relief properties. They are also one of the few leech species who can safely digest copper-based blood types, like a Vulcan's." Phlox smiled

"I am well aware of that doctor. I would appreciate it if we could simply get the procedure over with as soon as possible." T'Pol stated flatly.

"Very well, I'll be back in a moment." He said, and left; closing the curtain behind him.

She wanted very much to cover herself, but knew it would be impractical because she would only have to remove her medical gown once again in order to allow the doctor to place the leeches onto her chest. Just as he promised, the doctor had returned a few moments later carrying a large Plexiglas container filled brownish-green, blood-sucking, slimy leeches. The thought of having those things latching onto to her, and feeding off of her made her stomach churn. Phlox placed the container on a small metallic stand, next to her bed, and grabbed a pair of forceps. Opening the container he plunged the forceps in, and gently pulled out a slimy, wriggling, 5-inch leech. The smell, alone, nearly made her vomit.

"Okay now, if you will T'Pol don't move as I set them in place. You will feel a slight stinging sensation at first, but it will not last long. After the stinging has passed, you will begin to feel a numbness in your chest. Don't be alarmed however; it's all a part of the healing process." He stated

"I just wish to get this over with doctor." She restated to Phlox

"Very well." Phlox said and proceeded to place the first leech on her upper left chest.

The contact of its slick, and slippery body made her skin crawl, and the bite it delivered was more than a little sting. However, the doctor had been correct that it would be only momentary as a numbing feeling passed over a small portion of her chest. She felt the rest of chest go numb as Phlox placed the other three leeches on her and sealed the container.

"Good, the swelling should go down in approximately 30 minutes or so, I'll return at that time so check on your progress." Said Phlox and began to leave.

As he did so, T'Pol started to gently pull the bed sheet over her when he suddenly stopped her from doing so. "What are you doing?" she asked

"I am sorry T'Pol, but you can't pull the bed sheet or your medical gown back over. You must remain uncovered." He said

"Why is that?" She asked as she didn't want to be left exposed in this manner for the next half hour.

"Because, the chemical detergents that are used to wash and clean our clothes and bed spreads are deadly to Rigelian leeches, even if they have been completely rinsed and dried, even the minutest amount could kill them. If there is even a trace of the cleaning detergent within the fabrics of the bed sheet, they will die." Phlox explained.

"I see…" she responded sarcastically

"I'm not lying, if there is even the smallest any chemical residue in the fabric of those bed sheets, then the leeches will die, creating a bio-chemical reaction similar to acid. Not only will they die, but it will cause you even more pain and will possibly scar you for life. Trust me T'Pol, I am only thinking of your best interests." He said

"Is that so doctor?" she asked

"Well, of course I am. What are you insinuating?" Phlox replied

"Do not think that I didn't notice your fondling of my breast, earlier, doctor. Such deeds are unethical of a medical practitioner." T'Pol said

"Nonsense, I was performing my duties in the upmost professional manner. I had to touch your breast in order to correctly examine the swelling in your upper chest that you were experiencing." Phlox defended himself.

"And molesting my naked body had nothing to do with it? Is that correct?" T'Pol questioned him

"Of course not!" Phlox exclaimed

"What of my uniform?" she said

"What of it?" said Phlox

"Why was my entire uniform removed from my body, instead of just the blouse top?" T'Pol asked

"Because your entire uniform was not only covered in blood, yours and Tellarites, but it was also badly torn in many places. Whether it was due to fighting or something else, I can care less. Nevertheless, no matter how you may wish to look at it, both your blouse and trousers had to be removed due to sanitary concerns; for your health and for the others currently still undergoing treatment in sickbay. You may not like it, but it is Starfleet Medical Regulations. You will receive a replacement uniform as soon as you are healthy enough to resume your duties." Said Phlox

"By your statements, can I assume that you did not take some form of pleasure in the removal of my clothes and seeing my nude body, doctor?" she asked him

"T'Pol, I resent the accusation. I am a medical professional. I have served aboard the Enterprise as Chief Medical Officer since its maiden voyage. I have seen and at least half the crew in one stage of nudity, or another, for a vast many of medical reasons. Why is it all of a sudden that you are accusing me of such malpractice, when I could have just let you die from your injuries. It would have been far easier for me to do so, and treat the others who were less injured. However, I did not. I saved your life, and this is the 'thanks' I get, for my efforts." Phlox fumed

T'Pol stared at the incensed doctor for a few moments. His display of emotion seemed to be genuine. The color in his face has changed slightly to a more pink/orange color, typical for a Denobulan and his face had inflated slightly. This could be taken as a sign of stress, rage, and/or an emotional species, like Humans, there are many indicators in body language and the like that could not be falsely replicated, and others that could. She knew this much, but she did not know if this feat could be faked in a Denobulan. It may be possible that Phlox was lying; on the other hand, it could also be possible that he was in fact stating the truth. She did not think so, but she had no proof that he was lying either.

"Very well… I…" she hesitated, "Apologize…"

Phlox stood there, glaring at her before responding. "Apologies accepted." He said. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have other patients to attend to." Phlox said, closing the curtain behind him as he walked out; and expressing the slightest hint of a smile as he did so.

* * *

><p>May weather along with two MACO's and two Starfleet crewman were now completing their last search grid of the ship. Other MACO and Starfleet teams had already completed their search grids of the ship, in their hunt for any other alien slaves or Tellarites that may have survived the mutiny or previous battle when the Tellarites had beamed aboard the Daedalus. Only a handful of sections of the ship had been previously unexplored, but was now investigated and cleared, except for one. They were now entering the forward section of the upper tier, octagon-shaped, personnel decks. They came to a sealed blast door and stood at the ready with their phase pistols and phase rifles raised.<p>

"Santos, what are the hand scanner readings?" Mayweather asked the Starfleet crewman

"The scans show no life form readings or explosives devices on the other side. Everything seems good to go." Santos replied

"Open the door." Said Mayweather

Acknowledging the order, Santos punched in the command code into the interface panel on the wall, but nothing happened. He punched it in again, and again nothing happened.

"Problems?" said Mayweather

"The command code is not working." Said Santos

"Are you sure you have the right code? This isn't exactly the Enterprise incase you haven't noticed." Mayweather said sternly.

"Yes Sergeant, I'm sure I have the right one. The Major gave me the command codes himself. The panel appears to be damaged." Santos replied

"Then dismount the panel interface cover from the bulkhead and reroute it." Said Mayweather

"Yes Sergeant." Santos stated

"Do I have to think of everything myself?" Mayweather questioned

"No Sergeant." Santos said, and did as he was instructed. It took only a few minutes for Santos to reroute the control panel, but even those few minutes, were a few minutes too many, as Mayweather was getting impatient with his progress.

"Are you done yet?" Mayweather asked

"Almost, just a couple of more connections to make and then the blast door should automatically retract." Said Santos

"It better." He grunted in response.

A couple of more minutes passed by and the thick, metallic blast door rose upward into the ceiling bulkhead, much to Santos's relief.

"Good work, maybe it'll go a little faster the next time." Said Mayweather

Walking through the now open hatch, they cautiously made their way down the corridor, just incase the hand scanner readings were wrong. As they turned the second corner, Mayweather caught a glimpse of something on the deck. Quickly raising a closed fist into the air at eye level, signaling to his team to halt their position, he slowly lowered himself to the floor and picked up the object that caught his attention. It was a strange piece of misshapen metal, no larger than the tip of his finger.

"What the hell is this?" Mayweather said to himself

"It looks like a piece of metal of some kind." Said Santos

"I can see that Santos, but what is it and where did it come from?" Mayweather said, clearly annoyed

"Oh… I don't know Sergeant, but it looks like it hit something." Santos stated

Rolling his eyes, Mayweather stood, surveyed the area and saw some indentations in the bulkhead wall a few meters ahead of them. Making his way closer, he spotted more of the tiny misshapen pieces of metal on the deck plating with even more of the same indentations in the walls, along with some small splatterings of blood. However, not the red blood of humans, it was blue… Alien blood… More than likely from the other universe that the Daedalus originated from.

"Something happened down here, so I want everyone to keep their eyes open. Santos are you sure there's nothing on the scanners?" asked Mayweather.

"Yes, Sergeant, it's not reading any life signs, or any forms of chemical or solid explosives, or alien technology of any kind." He stated

Thinking to himself for several moments, Mayweather spoke what suddenly passed through his mind. "It may be possible that our scanners can't pick up life sign readings by aliens from another universe. They could very well be too alien in nature; can you modify the scanner to read for any organic signatures in general? I don't care if it's alive, dead, or anywhere in between. I just want to know if something was here." Said Mayweather

"Yes, Sergeant, just give me a minute."Santos said and holstered his phase pistol to make the modifications to his scanner.

"Make it fast, we don't have all day." Said Mayweather

A short moment later, Santos activated his scanner and his eyes went wide. "Sergeant, the scanner reads three new organic signatures down the corridor around the corner, about 5 meters." He said and unholstered his phase pistol, gripping it tight.

Scowling at the new readings, Mayweather, as well as the rest of his security team readied themselves for possible combat. "Alright people, let's go and stay on your toes." He said firmly as he raised his phase rifle, preparing himself to kill anything that he came across. Cautiously rounding the corner, Mayweather spotted the three organic signatures.

Sprawled out on the deck were the bodies of three unknown aliens, lying in pools of blue blood. Also, there was a vast amount of small brass casings, littering the deck plating, and scorch marks along the bulkhead walls. Signaling to his team, they slowly approached the bodies of these unknown aliens from another universe. Mayweather kneeled down to inspect the closest of the aliens as the other members of his team went to inspect the others. The alien humanoid in appearance, nearly two meters in height, with grey skin and no hair. It's red, cold, dead eyes were still open, staring at him with lifeless hate; and it chilled him to his bones. How this creature could still give off the aura of such powerful hate, even in death was beyond him. It seemed to have some sort of cybernetic implant in the protruding ridges along the side of its forehead. For what purpose, he could only guess. The alien was clad in some kind of armor. It was almost leather like in appearance, it was thin and a dark grayish-brown in color, and cold to the touch. As he pressed down on it, it also revealed that the armor had some moderate flexibility to it. It was then that he noticed the scorch marks and the holes. Suddenly, the realization had finally hit him…

"Bullets…" he said to himself

"What was that Sergeant?" Came a female voice from over his shoulder.

He looked up to see one his MACO's, the blonde haired Corporal Julia McKenzie, standing above him. McKenzie had served with Mayweather for many years, and was loyal to a fault.

"Bullets… These are bullets holes in its armor." He stated

"How can you tell?" she asked, kneeling beside him.

"The little pieces of metal, the indentations in the bulkhead and the scattering of brass casings along the deck plating, and most importantly the small holes in the alien's armor. They are all indications of bullet fire. There was a firefight down here and it looks like that these things, whatever they are, lost." Explained Mayweather

"Are you sure?" she asked

Picking up one of the casings and putting it up to his nose, he smelled it lightly and then nodded his head. "Very sure, here smell it." He said and gave it to her

After doing so her brow wrinkled and gave it back to him, "What is it?"

"That is the smell of cordite. The casing would store the gunpowder inside, along with the projectile round and the primer. When struck the primer would ignite the gunpowder inside the casing and fire the round at its target, flying at hundreds of meters per second. It's fairly simple if you actually think about, but also very deadly, and efficient." Said Mayweather.

"Do you know who killed them?" she questioned

"Most likely the dead humans that Phlox discovered in the sick bay's morgue. They carried projectile weapons that use bullets like these. 9 millimeter Berettas and P-90's I believe." He said

"How do you know this?" she asked again

"I read a lot of military history in my free time, you should also. You could a lot from the past." He told her

"Personally I prefer to fuck; it's a lot more fun." She smiled as Mayweather laughed. Reaching down to inspect the body, she spotted something underneath it. Gently pulling the object out from beneath it, and covered in the alien's blue, congealed blood, it was revealed to be some type of handheld energy weapon.

"Interesting." He said. "Report." He stated as he and McKenzie stood to their feet.

"They're both dead sir." Said Santos

"I can see that, did you find anything?" said Mayweather

"Only these." Santos replied, and showed two more of the aliens handheld energy weapons. Clean energy weapons, and what also looked like a pair of thermal grenades.

Mayweather took one of the energy weapons, while McKenzie quickly swapped the clean weapon for the blood-splattered one, making a light 'splat' type of noise as she slapped it into his hands, covering it in the thick, blue fluid. Glaring at her in hate and disgust, while McKenzie merely smiled in return.

Taking aim with the energy pistol down the corridor, he squeezed the trigger. A powerful bolt of green energy fired from the barrel of the pistol and left a scorch mark on the bulkhead wall. The same scorch mark as the others. "Nice." He smiled. If Archer got to have a new toy, then he does too.

"What now Sergeant?" Santos asked as he wiped off his hand

"We need inform the Captain of what we found down here, and have these aliens delivered to Phlox. I'm sure he would be more than happy to have some bodies to dissect and experiment on." Said Mayweather. "In the mean time, we should also keep searching this area to see if anything else is down here."

Not long after, they ran into another blast door, this time however, the readings indicated that there was a vacuum on the other side.

"It seems that there's a hull breach in that area." Said McKenzie

"Not only that," said Santos. "Scanners are reading a large mass composed of an unknown element as well."

"Can you get anything more than that?" said Mayweather

"Not really Sergeant, but from the size and shape of the mass, it may be a fighter or some other ship of some kind." Santos answered

* * *

><p>Removing the last of the leeches from her chest Phlox placed the bloated creature into its container and sealed the lid. "Well, now. How do you feel? Better I presume?" he asked T'Pol<p>

"I do, actually." She replied dryly

"There now, see, I told you that you would." He smiled

"Thank you doctor." She replied and pulled her medical gown over her chest, covering her naked breasts from Phlox's ogling eyes, noticing the look of disappointment when she did so.

"You should be able to return to your duties very soon, I will have your new uniform sent to you." said Phlox

"That would be most appreciated doctor." She replied, taking a deep breath as she watched him leave. She had to admit, the leeches did do what Phlox said they would do. Her chest was no longer in pain and her breathing had become easier. A few minutes later the curtain slid open to reveal one of Phlox's medical staff, Crewman First class Elizabeth Cutler, with T'Pol's new uniform.

"Where should I place your uniform, Commander?" she asked

"At the foot of the bed will be sufficient." T'Pol stated as she slowly sat up.

"Yes, ma'am." Cutler stated, placing the uniform at the foot of the bed as instructed. "The doctor said you should be able to return to your duties within the hour, and if you wished to put on your uniform now, that it would be okay."

"Thank you Crewman, you may leave now." Said T'Pol

"Aye ma'am." Said Cutler and left

Taking in another deep breath, T'Pol gently ran her fingers across the scar left behind by the Tellarite that shot her. It was ugly and deep, still bruised as well, a dark green and yellow underneath her skin. She knew that it would fade with time, but it would never go away. A permanent reminder of how close she came to death… Sighing to herself, she began to change.

Tending to her duties, Cutler was in the middle of an analysis of the four deceased humans from the other universe. Phlox had temporarily left the sick bay in order to go to the mess hall and had instructed her to monitor the test results and to inform him when they were completed. At that moment, she looked up from her screen to see Captain Archer enter the sick bay. She immediately stood at attention and saluted.

"Crewman, where is Phlox?" he asked

"He went to the mess hall, sir. Should I contact him to return to the sick bay?" she asked

"No, that won't be necessary, where is Commander T'pol?" he asked

"She's over there, Sir." Said Cutler, pointing to the curtained medical bed. "Doctor Phlox said that she should be able to return to her duties within the hour."

"Good. Carry on, Crewman." Said Archer

"Aye, sir." Cutler replied and returned to her station to monitor the tests.

Archer walked over to the medical bed and pulled back the privacy curtain, and before him stood T'Pol; completely nude from head to toe and bent over at the waist, in the process of pulling up her black panties. For the briefest of moments, their eyes met and locked onto each other, wide and in shock. T'Pol immediately pulled her underwear all the way up and quickly covered herself by yanking her bed sheets over her naked body, knocking her uniform off the bed and onto the floor. Archer had also quickly diverted his eyes for an instant, granting T'Pol her privacy in an unconscious show of respect and embarrassment. He could feel the blood rushing to his head and could tell that his face was undoubtedly red. However, he also promptly realized that there was no reason for him to show either respect or to be embarrassed. He was the Captain of this ship, and he was Human; T'Pol was neither. Turning back around to look at her, he could feel the heat still radiating from his face, and did his best to control it, too little effect. Despite this, however, he still looked down at his First Officer as she now sat at the edge of her medical bed, attempting as best as she could o cover her form with the thin sheets. T'Pol would never admit to being embarrassed of course, embarrassment was an emotion, and Vulcans don't feel emotions. Nevertheless, if there ever were a time in her life where she would find herself "feeling" embarrassed, this would be that time.

"Commander…" said Archer

"Captain…" said T'Pol. Both stood there in an uncomfortable silence for an awkward period of time. "Was there something you wanted from me sir?" she finally asked.

"Yes." He spoke, clearing his throat at the same time. "I came here to see if you were healthy enough to resume your duties."

"Doctor Phlox informed me, not long ago, that I should be able to do so within the hour, sir." She answered

"Yes, Crewman Cutler updated me about the doctor's prognosis on you. Do you think that you will be able to do that?" Archer asked

"Yes, sir." She stated, and thought that she is going to have to have a little 'talk' with Crewman Cutler on the concept of 'Privacy' later.

"Good… There was one other thing I wanted to speak to you about." Archer spoke in a much lower tone, approaching her closer, no longer caring about her state of dress.

"What would that be, sir?" She asked, clutching her bed sheets even tighter around her body.

"Just why did you save my life back on the bridge earlier? You could have let the Tellarite pig kill me, and then claim command of the Daedalus for yourself." Said Archer

Taken aback by the question, she responded in the only way a Vulcan could answer such a question… Logically… "I did so, Captain, because it was my duty as a loyal Starfleet officer to save the life of my Commanding Officer during a time of crisis."

"Really? Because anyone else may have taken advantage of the opportunity in order to gain command of the ship for themselves." Said Archer

"I would never commit such a treacherous act of disloyalty, Captain; and even if I were to think in such way, no other member of the crew would even follow my command. I am not a Human, I am a Vulcan.

Archer couldn't help but to grin at the last remark, "So, what you're saying to me is that you did think about it, but you knew you wouldn't have been able to carry it to fruition because you're a Vulcan and thought better of it and saved my life instead."

"N-no, sir." T'Pol stammered, afraid of where this line of questioning was leading toward.

Moving even closer to her now, so close in fact that their noses were almost touching, Archer continued. "Is that what you really want me to believe?"

"It is the truth, sir." She said

"Is it? Then why did you have your weapon pointed towards me first?" he asked, his tone, menacing.

"It w-wasn't aimed towards you, sir. It was aimed at the Tellarite." She answered

"Then why didn't you shoot him?" he asked

"Because, sir, when you turned around from your position, you blocked my line of site with the Tellarite. That's when I warned you and threw you out of the way from his line of fire." She answered honestly.

"So you're telling me that you, of all people, were willing to risk your own life for the sake of your Captain, without the possibility of a rewards afterwards." He asked her

"Of all people, sir?" she questioned

"A Vulcan, a slave… Your people aren't exactly popular with the Empire at the moment. Are you really expecting me to believe that you were willing to sacrifice yourself in order to save the life of your 'Human' Captain?" he asked her again

"It is the truth, Captain…" she repeated. "I was doing my duty as a Starfleet officer." Hoping that Archer would believe her.

He stared into her eyes for a short, yet unnerving, period of time. "You know… If you were a Human, I would kill you for lying to me. But for some reason, I actually trust you. Besides, it's not like Vulcans are exactly known for being good liars. Are they?" said Archer.

Suddenly he felt something rub against both of his outer thighs, when he looked, he realized that what was rubbing against his outer thighs, were in fact T'Pol's inner thighs. He had closed the distance to her by such a great factor that he was now actually standing between her legs. She was, in truth, leaning back on one her arms to support her weight, and he had both his hands on the outer side of her hips, leaning inward. He was so close to her that he could literally feel her body heat and smell her scent. Her skin, her hair; it was almost naturally sweet, and surprisingly inviting. Strangely enough, against his better judgment, it excited him to have her in such a position. Suddenly, he began to feel oddly, awkward and nervous for being so intimately close to her.

Backing away from her quickly, he straightened his uniform. "You should get dressed and report to your station as soon as you are able to do so."

"Aye, sir." T'Pol said, still clutching onto her bed sheets tightly around her body.

"Good…" With that being said, he simply turned and departed; closing the curtains behind him.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> This chapter was a little long and a little slow, as far as action and the like was concerned. However, I wanted to establish a couple of things in this chapter that I will be playing around with in future chapters; such as the "Unknown Aliens" and T'Pol's and Archer's relationship.


End file.
